‘Two Sessions’ Later, How China's Contradictory Policies Will Impact India

China’s ‘two sessions’ – the congregation of its two topmost deliberative bodies namely, the National People’s Congress (NPC), the country’s top legislature, and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the top advisory body, recently concluded in Beijing.

We mustn’t let young minds live in constant fear of an apocalypse

Prominent ‘tech bros’ are now predicting a catastrophic financial crisis in the US leading to hyperinflation and apocalypse. It’s funny how people who took zero interest rates for granted, made fantastic predictions about techno-utopias but failed to plan for something as predictable as changes in interest rates are now forecasting the end of the world as we know it. They are not alone.

A look at the fiscal health of Goa

Goa Chief Minister has announced that the upcoming  state budget will be "futuristic & realistic" and has hinted at focused attention to specific sectors. The successful implementation of various budgetary proposals depends on the state's fiscal health - the ability of the state to mobilise enough revenues and spend it efficiently. Thus, it is imperative to look at the fiscal performance of Goa. This article attempts to analyse the state's fiscal concerns and seeks to figure out solutions.

Lessons for RBI from its mandate that made recurring payments a nightmare

The frustrating experience of a recurring card payment to a foreign merchant failing and the card being declined is one which is all too familiar for most of us. Every now and then, you can find someone complaining about failed card payments on social media. This is largely due to the onerous regulations put forth by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The RBI had mandated that from October 1, 2021, for every recurring transaction below Rs 5,000, banks must send a notification at least 24 hours before the renewal date. For amounts over Rs 5,000, a one-time password was required to authorise every transaction.

Why Theatre Commands must be accompanied by a Uniform Military Code

The Inter-Services Organisations (Command, Control and Discipline) Bill 2023 was introduced in the Lok Sabha last week. The Bill empowers the Commander-in-Chief or the Officers-in-Command of inter-Services organisations to exercise administrative and disciplinary powers as laid down, over persons of individual services in their establishments. Disciplinary action would, however, only be taken under the Army, Navy and Air Force Act as applicable to an individual. Hitherto, the practice has been that if a naval officer/other rank were to commit an offence at the Defence Services Staff College Wellington, an inter-Service institution, the Commandant, a three star General, would repatriate the officer/rating to a naval organisation, where he would be tried under the Navy Act 1957.

For India’s AI ambitions, the time to act is now

On May 17, 2017, AlphaGo, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system built by Google’s DeepMind, defeated Ke Jie, China’s leading player in the board game, Go. In his book AI Superpowers, Kai-Fu Lee cites this as the seminal moment in China’s AI awakening. Considered the hardest game to master, Go’s dominance by a computer roused the government into action. Within a few months, Beijing announced plans to dominate AI by 2030.

It is time to ask if the panchayati raj model really works for India

We have had three decades of decentralized local governments. Next month will mark the 30th anniversary of panchayati raj, when the 73rd and 74th amendments gave Constitutional status to rural panchayats and urban municipal councils. The conventional wisdom is that panchayati raj is a great idea, the amendments were faulty and while local government has created tens of thousands of local politicians, improvements in local governance itself have been marginal.

India’s rapid digitisation has one major casualty—cybersecurity

India’s impressive progress in digitisation is certainly revolutionising how citizens and other State entities conduct their affairs. But the nation’s growing reliance on cyberspace has highlighted the promises and perils of an ancient strategic lore – increased dependency could also mean greater vulnerability. India’s vulnerability in the cyber domain has, for long, been recognised as a national security issue. In 2013, a National Cyber Security Policy was issued, which flagged the complexity and dynamic nature of cyberspace, and the need to unify actions guided by an integrated vision and a set of sustained and coordinated strategies.

Why Access to Protein is Important

The Global Nutrition Report tracks progress on six global nutrition targets identified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and aims to be achieved by 2025. In 2021, it noted that India is ‘on course’ to meet three of these targets – those for maternal, infant and young child nutrition. However, it also observed that 34.7 percent of children under five years of age continue to be affected with stunting. This rate is higher than the average for the Asia region. In addition, it reported that “India has made no progress towards achieving the target for wasting, with 17.3 percent of children under five years of age affected, which is higher than the average for the Asia region (8.9 percent) and among the highest in the world.”

MHA push for 7 new ITBP battalions is playing into China’s hands. India is wasting assets

It is said that political power is a psychological relationship between those who exercise it and those over whom it is exercised. That said,  creating alternative realities for its citizens may have become the government’s preferred method to manage domestic cognition as China continues its aggression on our northern border. Statements and actions of the head honchos of India’s Statecraft indicate that though they have succeeded in preserving political ascendency in the domestic sphere, they may have conceded psychological dominance to China. If so, does it augur well for India’s ability to perform in growing geopolitical contestations?

We ought to look at English language through another lens

A discussion over the role of the English language in India is a difficult one to have, because it means different things to different people in different places at different times. These include overthrowing residues of the Raj, finding a common language to communicate across massive linguistic diversity, contesting snobbery and condescension towards Indian languages, managing the rural-urban divide, driving a vehicle of social justice and choosing the best medium of instruction in the education system.

Driving Big Tech out of India would be a mistake

When two senior government ministers launched India's first homegrown mobile operating system at a ceremony last month, they hailed the project for its potential to bust monopolies without mentioning any particular one. They did not have to. While most attempts at creating a new mobile operating system fail, the government's clear intention was to put Google on notice by championing an unproven local alternative. The search giant, whose Android software powers more than 95% of smartphones in India, has been facing increased scrutiny in one of its largest markets.

China Is Eager To Change Its Diplomatic Tone To Launch A Charm Offensive

The primary aim of Chinese foreign policy in the months to come will be to “reset its economy and win back friends.” The immediate focus of this appears to be European countries.

From Beijing’s perspective, this is essential given the backlash it has faced both internally and from governments of the West over its zero-COVID policy, and the Communist Party of China (CPC’s) crackdown on the private sector which caused the bursting of its property market bubble and ripple effects for real estate and big technology firms across the globe.

Agnipath scheme holds the key to a stronger army. The only hurdle is selection process

The first batch of Agniveers enrolled under the Agnipath Scheme commenced training at the various recruit training institutions of the Armed Forces last month. Understandably, it will take a couple of years for the Armed Forces to crystallise the modifications required in the original scheme. During this period, two areas that would require a higher focus are the initial recruitment process and the recruit training.

The Army has already changed the recruitment process for the second batch by making the online exam the first step of the process. It is followed by physical fitness/measurement and medical tests. Earlier, the written exam that was conducted physically was the last step. This change will certainly reduce the overall administrative burden. 

India’s space security policy, part 2: getting space security right

How should India shape its space security in the near future? The first part of the essay provided an overview of India’s existing policy on space security. Further, it also analyzed how the current policy shaped India’s decision to abstain from voting on the United Nations (UN) resolution to ban debris-creating direct-ascent anti-satellite (DA-ASAT) testing. This essay asks a different question: how should India’s decision-makers think about their nation’s space security?

A focus on fiscal consolidation. But what next?

This is a draft version of the article published in Prajavani, which is accessible here.

In the upcoming fiscal the Karnataka government seeks to contain the Fiscal Deficit at 2.6% and the liabilities at 24.2% of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). It aims to generate a revenue surplus of Rs 402 crores. All the above are well within the key fiscal and debt norms set under the Karnataka Fiscal Responsibility Act (KFRA), 2002. It is worth noting that the Revenue Deficit (RD) Revised Estimates (RE) for 2022-23 is 40% of the 2022-23 Budget Estimates (BE). It is primarily because of higher-than-expected revenue collection in 2022-23.

Read the full draft here.

New IAF doctrine advertises aerospace power too much. It overshadows focus on core beliefs

The third iteration of the Indian Air Force doctrine was released on 4 February 2023; the first two were introduced in 2012 and 1995. The new doctrine has been expanded in length, scope, and detail, and mirrors the blooming potential of air and space as key mediums in which the Indian military can find greater expression and effectiveness. It isn’t surprising that the doctrine has officially rechristened the IAF as an aerospace power — a need that has been highlighted by the Indian leadership for several decades.

Need for commitment to biotechnology in India

Recently, President Joe Biden signed an Executive Order to launch a National Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative in the US. Amongst other things, the initiative seeks to “Drive Research and Development (R&D) to Solve Our Greatest Challenges”, with a focus on agriculture and food innovation and “Streamline Regulations for Products of Biotechnology”. These challenges are also shared by the Indian biotechnology ecosystem and a similar policy emphasis on tackling them is necessary.

A gradual approach on defence spending

Another defence budget zoomed past us this month. Since then, analyses have focused on how defence spending for the coming year departs from the previous one. Some have waved a red flag as defence spending has fallen below 2% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the first time in many years. On the other hand, the defence ministry’s post-budget statement emphasised a 44% increase in operational spending, which it said will close critical gaps in combat capabilities and equip the forces in terms of ammunition, sustenance of weapons and assets, and military reserves.

India’s space security policy, part 1: history’s second cut

How does India think about the international security of outer space? India has been a spacefaring nation for more than 40 years. Its ambitions and interests have reached beyond Earth orbit. More importantly, the country has developed counterspace capabilities to defend these growing interests. Understanding India’s space security policy, therefore, is critical to reaching a consensus on any outer space arms control and risk reduction measures negotiated in international fora.