| Title: | 250 : Sri Lanka’s Foreign Policy under the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe Government |
| Author/s: | Iromi Dharmawardhane |
| Abstract: | While Sri Lanka’s interests at its present juncture are mainly in economic development, the concerns of major powers in Sri Lanka are primarily strategic due to Sri Lanka’s proximity to major global shipping lanes. Since the change of government in January 2015, from the China-leaning Rajapaksa government to the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government espousing a nonaligned foreign policy, there has been a great increase in engagements between Sri Lanka and the United States of America, India and Japan. Engagements between Sri Lanka and China have also resumed and intensified in 2016. This paper describes the nature and breadth of Sri Lanka’s key engagements with major powers, to determine Sri Lanka’s foreign policy under the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government and assess its impact for Sri Lanka and on regional stability. |
| Date: | 23 December 2016 |
| Read More |
| Title: | 249 : China and Bangladesh: New Strategic Partners |
| Author/s: | Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury |
| Abstract: | Bangladesh and China are today 'all weather' strategic partners. The process, however, evolved at its own pace and took some time. This development, of course, is owed to the perceived national self interest of both countries. But it has also been aided by a certain consistency in the way China relates to the world. |
| Date: | 14 December 2016 |
| Read More |
| Title: | 248 : Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal: A Strategic Factor in China-South Asia Relations |
| Author/s: | P S Suryanarayana |
| Abstract: | Chinese President Xi Jinping's go-global strategy towards Maritime South Asia will be fashioned by the interests and concerns of China, but may well be buffeted by those of India. The centrepiece of this study is a bird's-eye view of the emerging interplay of such potential Sino-Indian power projections. |
| Date: | 12 December 2016 |
| Read More |
| Title: | 247 : Political Market Imperfections and Incentives for the Provision of Social Services in India: A Case Study of Kerala and Uttar Pradesh |
| Author/s: | Taisha Grace Antony |
| Abstract: | Delivery of social services of health and education often see significant cross-national variations within a country. State governments in democratic developing counties sometimes have an incentive to provide targeted benefits as political rents at the expense of the provision of broad social services. Differences in state government expenditures can be traced back to certain imperfections in the political market, which may be greater in some states as compared to others. These imperfections, in turn, affect the political incentives for the provision of social services. The three independent factors or imperfections in the political market that have been identified to have the potential for affecting electoral accountability are the degree of information available to voters, the dynamics of political competition, and the extent of ethnic fragmentation in a state. |
| Date: | 8 December 2016 |
| Read More |
| Title: | 246 : Skills Development Policy and Jobs in India: Shortcomings and Way Forward |
| Author/s: | Anshul Pachouri |
| Abstract: | India seems to be facing multiple challenges in the skilling space: low employability of training programs, slower employment generation, low level of skilled workforce and overall quality of training infrastructure. There has been duplication of efforts at enhancing capacity for new skills over the years with more than 21 ministries, State governments, and other agencies running skills development programs with no commonly accepted standards and norms. These challenges become more prominent for a nation with more than 65% of the population below 35 years of age. The first skills development policy of 2009 institutionalized the skills training delivery in India by establishing a three-tier structure (National Skills Development Corporation was made responsible for operationalizing the efforts) and setting-up an ambitious target of training 500 million people by 2022. |
| Date: | 6 December 2016 |
| Read More |
| Title: | 245 : Compressed Capitalism, Employment, and the Structural Limits of the State: The Indian Case |
| Author/s: | Anthony P. D'Costa |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the nature of changing labor markets in India and identifies the severe structural limits of the state in creating plenty of meaningful jobs. The argument is as follows: the instruments of intervention available at the state's disposal are highly constrained due to a variety of structural endogenous and exogenous factors, whose cumulative and combined effect has been to generate a form of late capitalism that does not follow the classical capitalist transition pattern. Instead the uneven development resultant from this type of capitalism is unable to create either the desirable type or high volume of jobs. This late form of capitalism is compressed due to both pre-mature stagnation and leapfrogging in specific sectors and industries and by which the classical or agrarian transition is either incomplete or stalled and thus unable to play its historic role of raising agricultural productivity to motor capitalist industrialization. |
| Date: | 16 November 2016 |
| Read More |
| Title: | 244 : India at Cross-roads: Beyond the Dilemma of Democratic Land Reforms |
| Author/s: | Subrata Mitra and Rinisha Dutt |
| Abstract: | During the demanding years following a century and half of economic stagnation during colonial rule, India has changed progressively from a colonial, agrarian economy into one where services and manufacturing have overtaken agriculture in terms of sectoral contribution to GDP. The country’s democratic institutions have held their own. They have generated the political momentum that reinforces reform without upsetting the democratic and judicial due processes. Many had maintained that radical changes in India’s economy and welfare would be unlikely as long as both are constrained by the liberal democratic constitution and the capitalist mode of production.3 India has defied the general norm. However, the robust confidence in long-term, sustainable growth that one finds in sections of India’s corporate sector has its critics. The diversity of India’s political economy and the complex role of the state in balancing growth and justice call for a nuanced analysis. This paper analyses how India has coped with the dilemma of ‘democratic’ land reforms – a key component of the Indian model of economic growth versus social justice – the policy paralysis this has given rise to, and the possible solution to what appears as a conundrum. |
| Date: | 16 November 2016 |
| Read More |
| Title: | 243 : Contemporary Trends and Patterns of Democracy in Bangladesh: A Perception Study |
| Author/s: | Sk. Tawfique M Haque, Professor and Director, Public Policy and Governance Program, Department of Political Science and Sociology, at the North South University, Dhaka (Bangladesh) |
| Abstract: | Trends and patterns of democracy in a country evolve from past historical processes to its current level of adoption and degree of liberalization of democracy. The testimony to a functional democracy in a country can be traced by the citizens' perception on public institutions, quality of adult franchise, public responsiveness, media freedom and human rights. The survey on democracy portrays citizens' perception on democracy which was carried out in 2014 in 50 constituencies under 16 districts in Bangladesh. |
| Date: | 2 November 2016 |
| Read More |
| Title: | 242 : The United States and the State of World Politics: Some Implications for South Asia |
| Author/s: | Shahid Javed Burki |
| Abstract: | This essay attempts to answer several important questions: What is happening to the political systems in the Western world? How will America influence the state of world politics as it goes through a period of wrenching change itself? At this time, Washington seems less inclined to get involved in world politics. What would be the impact of this virtual withdrawal from world affairs on several parts of Asia, the northeast, the east, the southeast, the south and the west? How closely are economic and political trends aligned? Would economic despair among several segments of the citizenry in the West reinforce the passive approach which the politically more-developed countries have adopted towards the countries that are relatively less-advanced. |
| Date: | 25 October 2016 |
| Read More |
| Title: | 241 : Rivals Sometimes, Friends Always? Puzzles, Paradoxes and Possibilities in Sino-Indian Relations |
| Author/s: | Subrata Kumar Mitra |
| Abstract: | India-China relations are today less cordial but commercially buoyant. In most of the bilateral meetings both countries pledged to increase the bilateral trade volume and in 2015 have signed a strategic partnership. The relationship continues to be beset with tensions that ever so often erupt and threaten to derail efforts to manage the simultaneous rise of two giant economies and Asian powers. A trade balance vastly in favour of China rankles in India where fears for Indian manufacturing abound especially when contrasted with Chinese prowess. Issues of infrastructure, urbanisation, corruption and governance provoke regular stocktaking on the Indian side, leading to heated debates and discussions on the successes and failures of two different political systems. Strong, negative perceptions persist on both sides, characterised by deep sensitivities on political issues, most importantly, the activities of the Dalai Lama in India and the disputed border territories. Nationalism often threatens to boil over and is egged on by a dynamic media in both countries. Border incidents along the un-demarcated Sino-Indian border occur regularly and are often depicted as ‘incursions’ and in the effort to calm tempers, labelled as ‘transgressions’. Nonetheless, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang chose to make India his first port of call signalling that perhaps the regime in Beijing was allocating greater importance to Indian than in the past. What emerges therefore remains a confusing picture of Sino-Indian relations - on the one hand more cooperative and commercially resilient than ever before and on the other hand a relationship that continues to be vulnerable to distrust and nationalism. Reconciling this contradictory picture requires the posing of some concrete questions. Who makes India’s ‘China policy’ and who makes China’s ‘India policy’? To what extent are commercial stakeholders and military strategists involved in the process of policy-making on either side? Are there institutionalised forums within which disputes and concerns are regularly tabled and discussed? To what extent is the bilateral Sino-Indian relationship embedded within multilateral frameworks? What are the main drivers of India-China relations? Does trade continue to be the abiding priority on both sides or do emerging geo-political considerations look to shape the repertoire of concerns and ambitions? Can ‘Chindia’ become the fulcrum of a new Asian Equilibrium? |
| Date: | 11 October 2016 |
| Read More |
| Title: | 240 : Democracy in South Asia: One Goal, Multiple Paths |
| Author/s: | Suhas Palshikar |
| Abstract: | While on the one hand, democracy in South Asia can be seen as emphasizing the welfare aspect more than the others, we have also noted that citizens from countries of the region also uphold various aspects of procedures, rights and governance when they think of democracy. If our conceptualization, therefore, does not insist on any one set of ideas as the authentic meaning of democracy, then we are in a position to study democracy in South Asia in a more nuanced fashion. |
| Date: | 11 October 2016 |
| Read More |
| Title: | 239 : The State of Bangladesh-United States Relations: Before the Kerry Visit, and Beyond |
| Author/s: | Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury |
| Abstract: | The Working paper seeks to examine the gamut of the Bangladesh-United Stated relations, of which an important milestone, given the backdrop against which it was undertaken has been the visit to Dhaka in August 2016 of the US Secretary of State John Kerry. It argues that as a relationship it has not always been smooth and feathers have been ruffled on both sides on occasions. Yet stabilizing it would redound to the interest of both governments and peoples. The paper concludes with the argument for a strong reengagement between the next Administration in Washington DC and Dhaka, closing any attention-deficit on both sides. |
| Date: | 28 September 2016 |
| Read More |
| Title: | 238 : Religious Fundamentalism in South Asia: Some Preliminary Considerations |
| Author/s: | Riaz Hassan |
| Abstract: | Religious fundamentalism is a distinctive set of beliefs and behaviour pattern in most modern religious communities. It is a religious way of being that manifests itself as a strategy among the believers to preserve the authenticity of their identity based on doctrines, beliefs and practices from a sacred past. This religious identity becomes the exclusive basis for a reimagined political and social order. There are numerous fundamentalist movements in South Asia. This paper focuses on four main movements namely: Arya Samaj, Rashtriya Svayamsevak Sangh or the RSS, Jamaat-i-Islami and Tablighi Jamaat. The first two are Hindu and the last two Muslim. It is argued that the genesis of these movements lies mainly in the challenges posed by modernity, political and cultural subordination, nationalism and colonialism. Like nationalism religious fundamentalist movements are intellectual projects led by charismatic intellectuals seeking to reform and remodel society using the sanctity and authority of sacred texts. All four movement have had significant impact on social and political processes in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, some of which are highlighted in the paper. The paper concludes by suggesting that religious fundamentalist movements are new form of traditionalisms. These movements use tools of modern science and technology to advance their goals but reject some of the key features of modernity such as secular rationality, individualism, religious and cultural pluralism and tolerance. |
| Date: | 21 September 2016 |
| Read More |
| Title: | 237 : Need for Credible Anti-Terror Counter-Narratives: The Bangladesh Context |
| Author/s: | Shamsher M Chowdhury |
| Abstract: | Present-day religious extremism and radicalism do not target any one political party or country, nor do they favour another. These are a societal phenomenon built on a medieval narrative, characterised by a mindless anger, and have become trans-national. The most effective way to tackle this threat is to build credible counter-narratives and take a collective approach. |
| Date: | 11 August 2016 |
| Read More |
| Title: | 236 : Technologies of Swachh Bharat Machines and Methods for Cleaning India |
| Author/s: | Robin Jeffrey and Assa Doron |
| Abstract: | Under the categories of Earth, Fire and Water, this paper reviews some of the technologies being deployed in the Swachh Bharat or Clean India campaign. Humans have buried, burned or washed away unwanted materials since pre-historic times, but modern population densities and production capacities pose unprecedented problems. The paper examines "scientific landfills," incineration methods and toilet and waste-water innovations. Although superior technologies are essential for the success of the Clean India initiative, they must be accompanied by superior training and conditions for existing low-status workers and widespread change in attitudes towards public sanitation. Achievement of these latter ends calls for further urgent research. |
| Date: | 5 August 2016 |
| Read More |
| Title: | 235 : Attempted Military Coup in Turkey: Some Lessons for South Asia and the Muslim World |
| Author/s: | Shahid Javed Burki, Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the ISAS |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the failed coup d’etat in Turkey in the context of political developments in the western part of the Muslim world – the stretch of land from Morocco to Bangladesh. Of the 33 countries in this area, only three could be said to have moved towards developing inclusive political systems. Two of these – Bangladesh and Pakistan – are in South Asia. The third, Turkey, was also making progress before the military attempted to overthrow an elected government. The paper suggests that militaries succeed in political interference when a number of conditions are met: democratic institutions are weak; large segments of the population are not happy with the quality of governance on offer; and the military functions as a unified force, with a clear chain of command. Most of these conditions were not present in Turkey. It is too early to tell whether the attempted coup and the reaction to it have set back Turkey’s political progress. If it has, it will be consequential for the Muslim world. However, the relative political success of Muslim South Asia may in the end provide the Muslim citizenry some models they could follow. |
| Date: | 26 July 2016 |
| Read More |
| Title: | 234 : India’s Economic Reforms and APEC Supply Chain Trade |
| Author/s: | Ganeshan Wignaraja |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses India-APEC global supply chain trade performance and its links to India's business environment, particularly economic reforms. |
| Date: | 24 May 2016 |
| Read More |
| Title: | 233 : Land Management and Industrial Development in Tamil Nadu1 |
| Author/s: | Sojin Shin is Visiting Research Fellow at ISAS |
| Abstract: | This paper addresses a central research question of how socio - political factors explain a high level of land acquisition in Tamil Nadu that is couple d with intensive industrialization. It answers the question by paying attention to the ideas of policymakers on inclusive industrial schemes and societal structure presenting the upward mobility of low caste groups in both political and economic spheres in the state. It argues that the state’s commitment to land making and industry making has met the needs of citizens favoring urbanization, thereby contributed to industrial development. Fieldwork findings collated from a bargaining process between the state, society, a nd foreign capital for land acquisition at a special economic zone for a tire - manufacturing foreign compan y strongly support the argument. |
| Date: | 4 May 2016 |
| Read More |
| Title: | 232 : The Roots of Citizen Welfare in India: Reflections on Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal |
| Author/s: | Rahul Mukherji, Associate Professor, South Asian Studies Programme at the National University of Singapore |
| Abstract: | This paper argues that the state in India is an important actor in engendering development and welfare. India is a different kind of development state. This argument is made by comparing two cases of welfare provision in two Indian states. |
| Date: | 18 April 2016 |
| Read More |
| Title: | 231 : Swachh Bharat!: If Not Clean India! Perhaps a Cleaner India by 2019? |
| Author/s: | Robin Jeffrey |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the seven goals of the Swachh Bharat! Clean India! campaign inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014. Assessing the motivations for the campaign, the appropriateness of each goal and the obstacles and opportunities that face the campaign, the author welcomes the momentum that highest-level support brings to the unglamorous (but desperately urgent) policy area of solid and liquid waste-management. But the paper also underlines the immense cultural and administrative hurdles that have to be overcome. |
| Date: | 31 March 2016 |
| Read More |
| Title: | 230 : Power and Piety: Religion, State and Society in Muslim Countries |
| Author/s: | Riaz Hassan |
| Abstract: | There is the logical possibility of the creation of a Muslim society that is characterised by high levels of trust in and esteem for the State, and in which there is also a high level of trust in religious institutions. However, as far as we know, there are no contemporary examples of such a situation that can be readily identified. This raises the interesting question of why this is so. Does it mean that such a situation is not possible, or could such a situation possibly come about under circumstances in which different political arrangements prevail between Islam and the State? The author argues that the findings reported in this article will stimulate further debate and discussion on the relationship between the State and religious institutions in Muslim countries and help them move from the actual to the ideal. |
| Date: | 23 February 2016 |
| Read More |
| Title: | 229 : An Assessment of the International Legal Obligations Owed to the Rohingya Refugees |
| Author/s: | Ramandeep Kaur, Intern at the ISAS, an autonomous research institute at the National University of Singapore |
| Abstract: | This paper considers the issue of migration of the Rohingyas from the lens of international law. It evaluates the responses of the countries that have been the destination of these migration flows – namely Bangladesh, Thailand, and increasingly, Malaysia and Indonesia (collectively, the “destination countries”) – against their obligations under international law. The response of the destination countries has, regrettably, not been entirely consistent with the international legal framework. Things are however beginning to take a turn for the better. The discovery of mass graves on Thailand’s border with Malaysia generated international pressure and pushed countries into taking collaborative action. The outcome of this collaboration has been encouraging and it represents a closer alignment with the international legal framework. However, this alignment, stemming as it does from an ad hoc arrangement, might prove to be short-lived for reasons that will be explored. This paper proceeds in the following manner: Section I assesses the extent of the destination countries’ compliance with their international legal obligations, following which Section II explores the durability of the compliance with international law that seems to have emerged recently. Here, it will be argued that this compliance is likely to be short-lived. Even more fundamentally, it will be shown that international law by itself cannot offer a comprehensive solution to this thorny problem; international cooperation is a must. |
| Date: | 16 February 2016 |
| Read More |
| Title: | 228 : Development Policies and Democratic Disruptions. Predicaments of the Marxist Left |
| Author/s: | Dwaipayan Bhattacharyya , Centre for Political Studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi |
| Abstract: | This paper argues that development policies operate in Indian democracy at the interstices of two largely different yet interconnected worlds – of technical formulation and political formations. The Indian Left found dramatic success in its land reform policies as it travelled between the two by combining its programmatic goals with pragmatic governance, and – by contrast – failed miserably to overcome popular protest against acquiring farmland when it was driven by a top-down bid for industrialisation. Populist disruptions, strategically negotiated with, play a far more productive role in India’s democracy than ordinarily acknowledged in effecting a political scrutiny of state policies for economic development – however sound and desirable. |
| Date: | 16 February 2016 |
| Read More |
| Title: | 227 : Ontological Security And India-China Relations: From Border War To “News War” |
| Author/s: | Lu Yang, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of International Relations Tsinghua University in Beijing |
| Abstract: | This paper joins the growing scholarship on the ontological security needs of states in international relations (IR) literature and explores its relevance to India-China relations. Ontological security is the security of identity, achieved by routinized relationships with significant others and actors can become attached to those relationships. The main research question will be twofold: to what extent is the border dispute constitutive of India and China’s identities in their interactions; and, to what extent can the concept ontological security shed light on understanding India-China relations and on ending persistent border conflict? By reviewing India-China border dispute and examining recent phenomenon, the “news war,” the paper argues that there is a victim-perpetrator/loser-winner relationship between India and China, caused by the 1962 war and routinized in the years thereafter, which indicates great conflict potential. |
| Date: | 15 February 2016 |
| Read More |
| Title: | 226 : Offshore Financial Centres and the Determinants of India’s outward FDI |
| Author/s: | Chandrani Sarma , Research Assistant at ISAS |
| Abstract: | The paper analyses the factors behind the trend of India's outward investment flows to a few top destination-countries during the years 2008 to 2013. India's investment decisions are not of the same kind, and hence the results of analysis showed interesting insights on offshore financial centres (OFCs). The main aim of the paper, apart from reiterating the robustness of traditional investment theories, is to test whether the traditional determinants of FDI flows; trade, institutions, exchange rate etc. hold good even when the host destination is an OFC. A significant fraction of global capital flows though these jurisdictions, but it has not received much research focus. A better understanding of their nature can help countries in policy decisions. The results confirm that for a host country to attract FDI from India, the traditional determinants remain significant; however, where the host country is an OFC, traditional factors are rendered insignificant. |
| Date: | 11 February 2016 |
| Read More |
| Title: | 225 : Spatial Dimensions of Muslim Well-Being in India: A comparative study of Indian districts |
| Author/s: | Riaz Hassan , Mikhail Balaev and Abusaleh Shariff |
| Abstract: | 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 religious minorities, especially Muslims, in India. The theoretical framework of the Report was predicated on Indian's constitutional promise of equality of opportunity for citizens of secular democracy. One of the biggest gains of the Sachar Commission was its reconstruction of the Muslim community as 'development subjects' in the state rather than primarily as a religious community. An important finding of the Sachar Commission was that there is a clear and significant inverse correlation between the proportion of the Muslim population and the availability of educational, communication, health and physical infrastructures in villages. |
| Date: | 29 January 2016 |
| Read More |
| Title: | 224: The Indo-Russian Defence Partnership : A Framework for the 21st Century |
| Author/s: | Jayant Singh, Research Assistant at ISAS |
| Abstract: | Since the 1960s defence trade has been the raison d'?¬tre for strategic relations between India and the Soviet Union/Russia. However, in consonance with India's enhanced geopolitical status and the strategic rapprochement with the United States, New Delhi has found new partners in the West. India's military-technical relationship with Russia is no longer an exclusive partnership. The resultant downgrade in Indo-Russian defence engagement has unsettled longstanding geo-political equations. Given the export-dependent nature of the Russian military-industrial complex, the Kremlin has begun to revise elements of its arms policy in South Asia. Russian military export overtures towards Pakistan are now perceptible. In order to recapture their old charm and take their military partnership into the 21st century, recurring problems in Indo-Russian defence engagement must be ironed out. |
| Date: | 22 January 2016 |
| Read More |
| Title: | 223 : Elite Politics and Dissent in Sri Lanka |
| Author/s: | Harini Amarasuriya, Open University of Sri Lanka, Nugegoda, Sri Lanka |
| Abstract: | The year 2015 has been dramatic for politics in Sri Lanka. A Presidential, as well as a General, Election within the first eight months of the year saw the country having a new President and a new government come into power. The new political order was brought into power on a wave of mobilisation from a range of civil society groups and actors reminiscent of the political transformation that took place in 1994. Then too, a government that had been in power for 17 years, which had overseen the violent suppression of an insurrection in the South, was defeated by a relative newcomer in politics. This paper attempts to examine the changes that have taken place in 2015, in relation to certain established facts about Sri Lanka's political system, particularly the dominance and endurance of the elite. |
| Date: | 22 January 2016 |
| Read More |
| Title: | 222 : Challenges and Trends in Decentralised Local Governance in Bangladesh |
| Author/s: | Niaz Ahmed Khan, Professor and Chair, Department of Development Studies, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh |
| Abstract: | Bangladesh has a rich legacy of establishing and promoting local government institutions, but the actual roles and contributions of these institutions to augment citizens’ participation and consolidate democratic practices have often been marginal - due mainly to the overwhelming central interference, and abuse and manipulation by authoritarian regimes to perpetuate their power. This study takes a retrospective look into the evolution and functioning of decentralised local governance in Bangladesh with a view to eliciting the major trends, characteristics and challenges. Such a reconnaissance exercise may be particularly relevant in consideration of the fact that there has, of late, been renewed emphasis on decentralized local governance by the government and civil society alike, and a number of structural and legal reforms have been made. |
| Date: | 22 January 2016 |
| Read More |
| Title: | 221 : Andhra Pradesh: Political Dynamics of Regionalism, Formation of New States in India |
| Author/s: | K C Suri, Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Hyderabad, India |
| Abstract: | Delving deeply into the dynamic factors that have led to the creation of language-based sub-national States in India, the author explains the political and psychological basis of the recent bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, a composite State for the Telugu linguistic group, in a context in which the two new entities continue to be dominated by people speaking the same language. |
| Date: | 22 January 2016 |
| Read More |
| Title: | 220 : From Congress-system to Non-hegemonic Multi-party Competition: Politics in Maharashtra |
| Author/s: | Suhas Palshikar , Department of Politics & Public Administration at Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, India |
| Abstract: | The paper reviews the changing nature of politics in the state of Maharashtra - an important subnational state in India. Politics in the state underwent a shift in 1978 and later again in 1990s. The present moment (2014) may be seen as the third shift firmly pushing the state out of the grips of Congress dominance. State politics has witnessed not only the decline of the Congress and a somewhat stable coalitional competition during the 2000s, it has also witnessed a decoupling of structures of economic power and structures of political domination. This development has led to the main ruling community in the state, the Marathas, being restless. Thus, social, political and economic factors have coincided in producing a juncture of political competitiveness that fails to produce well-being in the larger sense. |
| Date: | 15 January 2016 |
| Read More |
| Title: | 219 : India -Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreement |
| Author/s: | Sreeradha Datta, Director, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies, Kolkata, India |
| Abstract: | The recent success of India and Bangladesh in settling the complicated issue of political enclaves in each other's territories could be traced to the spirit displayed by the leaders of the two countries in 2010 through a leap of faith in the promise of shared prosperity. Nonetheless, the latest exchange of enclaves brings in its trail a host of humanitarian, legal and social issues. These need to be addressed through fairness by both sides. |
| Date: | 12 January 2016 |
| Read More |
Load more