SPRF
Introduction The state of Bihar published the ‘Bihar Caste-based Survey 2022’ in October 2023, revealing that the combined population of Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) constitutes almost 63% of the state’s 13-crore population, establishing them as the largest caste group in the state. This revelation sparked the demand for a caste […]
India has always been strongly positioned in international climate action dialogues. It is considered a big player in investments and advocacy, as well as a central voice for climate financing, especially for what is considered the global south. At the recent COP28 hosted by the United Arab Emirates in Dubai, India again advocated for the […]
India’s Steady Embrace of Electric Vehicles India, surging ahead as a major global economy and one of the world’s most populous nations, grapples with a critical challenge: the environmental toll of expanding its road transport infrastructure. While these infrastructures are essential for driving development, their rapid growth has triggered alarming emissions of CO2, nitrogen oxides, […]
AI in Indian Politics India first faced the risk of AI intervention in elections during the Delhi Assembly polls in 2020. Users came across videos featuring the then state BJP chief, Manoj Tiwari, criticising Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s policies in various languages. Later, it was ascertained to be a deepfake video. The recent assembly elections […]
On 8 December 2022, the central government discontinued the Maulana Azad National Fellowship [MANF], stating that it overlapped with other fellowships benefitting minority students. Implemented by the Ministry of Minority Affairs, MANF was launched in 2009 to execute the Sachar Committee’s recommendations on inclusive development. MANF assimilated 6 minority communities notified under Section 2(c) […]
In a letter dated September 2022, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin urged the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry to ban the import of single-use plastic lighters immediately. This demand came against the increasing competition the domestic matchbox market faces from the imported cheap disposable plastic lighters from China. Stalin commented that the matchbox […]
The Parliament will be in session from 7 December 2022 to 29 December 2022, comprising 17 sittings over 27 days. The winter session will begin after the Assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh and the Municipal elections in Delhi. The monsoon session was held from 18 July to 8 August 2022, with 16 settings […]
Conference of Parties: A Talk Shop? The 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference of Parties [COP] was held in Sharm-El Sheikh, Egypt, between November 6 and November 18, 2022. Although touted as the authority on climate action decision-making, the long-term effects of COP remain to be seen. Over the years, representatives have repeatedly called for […]
ABSTRACT On 11th May 2022, the Supreme Court passed an order allowing the central government to reconsider the sedition law. The apex court directed that in the meantime, all pending sedition trials should be kept in abeyance and stated that it hopes and expects the government not to register any new sedition cases or carry […]
The Electoral Promise of Farm Loan Waivers Farmers and other agricultural stakeholders make up a significant portion of the voting population. Therefore, their issues remain an essential part of the electoral discourse. Farm loan waivers appear to be a favourite pre-election announcement among political parties in response to the growing agrarian distress. The 2021 National […]
Context In December 2021, the Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare of India, Dr Bharti Praveen Pawar, announced that 13.01 lakh doctors were registered under the Indian Medical Registry (Pawar, 2021). Of these, around 80% or 10.41 lakh doctors were practising in India (National Medical Commission, n.d.). The World Health Organisation [WHO] recommends […]
A 2022 IMF working paper authored by Surjit Bhalla, Karan Bhasin, and Arvind Vimani has discussed how extreme poverty has been almost entirely eradicated in India (Bhalla et al., 2022). The World Bank (2015) categorises those in ‘extreme poverty’ as those who live on less than US $1.9 purchasing power parity [PPP] per day globally. […]
INTRODUCTION Ayushman Bharat, an umbrella scheme that included other major Publicly Funded Health Insurances [PFHI] schemes, was launched in 2018 by the Union government. The vision was one of achieving universal health coverage (National Health Authority, n.d.). The flagship scheme contains two components, health and wellness centres [HWCs] and the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana […]
Introduction: The Invisible Work of Women in India Due to the traditional division of labour, women and girls majorly perform unpaid household chores such as cooking, cleaning, and care work. According to the recent National Statistical Office (2020) report on time use in India, women spend close to 5 hours (299 minutes) per day on […]