Abstract Exactly 28 years ago, with the Kyoto Protocol; a result of the Earth Summit held at Rio De Janeiro in Brazil, carbon markets came into existence to address climate change, and it established the foundation for carbon markets by introducing market-based mechanisms like emissions trading. Carbon markets allow countries to trade emission reduction credits, […]

In 2019, the NGT banned all farming activities on the Yamuna floodplains following a study by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute that found high levels of lead in vegetables and corresponding soil samples. Environmentalists are increasingly suggesting that farming does not threaten the region’s ecology, especially with the controlled use of fertilisers and pesticides

Introduction Marginalization of women, seen through the case of exclusion from ownership structures, can be considered as one of the key reasons against which the suffrage movement was initially mounted, globally. However, in India and abroad, with the delinkages between citizenship rights and property holdings by the mid-twentieth century, the question of land rights and […]

आपराधिक मामलों के अभियुक्तों के मकान पर बुलडोजर चलाने की कार्रवाई ने देश के कानून के सामने नई चुनौती पेश की है। कानूनी प्रक्रिया का पालन किए बिना किसी की छत को कैसे ढहाया जा सकता है? अभियुक्त तो दूर यदि किसी को मुकदमे के बाद दोषी भी पाया गया है, तो क्या उसके मकान […]

Introduction Preterm birth and low birth weight (PBLBW) are one of the leading causes of infant mortality in children under five, making them a significant public health challenge that accounts for a large portion of the global disease burden (Darmstadt et al., 2023). By definition, preterm birth occurs when an infant is delivered before 37 […]

Among developed nations, the European Union (EU) has remained at the forefront of environmental protection, distinguished through proactive and legally binding measures. While many countries have set ambitious climate targets, the EU has gone a step further by enacting comprehensive policies that drive sustainable practices both within its borders and globally.   The European Green […]

Disclaimer: This issue brief was written before the announcement of reciprocal tariffs by the new Trump administration on 2nd April, 2025, which imposed tariffs by a baseline of 10% for all countries exporting to the USA, and additional tariffs depending on their respective MFN tariff binds, with certain exempt commodities. For India, this amounts to […]

अलीगढ़ मुस्लिम विश्वविद्यालय (एएमयू) के अल्पसंख्यक स्वरूप को लेकर लम्बे समय से चली आ रही कानूनी जंग अभी पूरी तरह खत्म नहीं हुई है। सुप्रीम कोर्ट की सात सदस्यीय संविधान पीठ ने 4:3 के बहुमत से साफतौर पर कहा कि संसद द्वारा पारित कानून का मतलब यह नहीं है कि उस शिक्षण संस्थान अपने अल्पसंख्यक […]

Introduction  The European Union has been at the forefront of global climate policy, aiming to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 under its European Green Deal. To support this goal, the EU has introduced several measures, including the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). The CBAM has been viewed as a key intervention to reduce carbon leakage. […]

Introduction  India has made significant strides in rural electrification, addressing energy poverty and its unique socio-economic development. In line with its global commitments to ‘ensuring access to affordable, reliable, and modern energy for all’, India led with key interventions, including the Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana, also known as the Saubhagya Scheme. The […]

Introduction At the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People in August, human rights activist and environmentalist Joan Carling declared, “People are not sitting down; people are taking action. And women are at the forefront of these actions.” Her words highlight an often-overlooked truth in the fight against climate change: although women are significantly underrepresented […]

The government of India, in November 2022, announced that it would discontinue the Maulana Azad National Fellowship for students pursuing higher studies.  MANF, launched in 2009,aimed to provide financial assistance to students from six minority communities pursuing an M.Phil. or a PhD for five years. It was implemented by the Ministry of Minority Affairs. Since […]

Throughout India, there are several instances of women leaders at the margins- affecting change and driving leadership in critical policy and governance areas in their local communities. The SPRF Grassroots Women’s Tracker outlines a collection of such women, who have driven crucial policy changes from the bottom, in sectors such as education, local governance, sanitation, labour, livelihoods and justice.

PPP allows us to understand and make comparisons between two countries about the price of the same goods and services in both countries. Thus, a PPP analysis shows the price of the same goods and services in different economies, adjusted for parity. A high PPP implies that a basic set of essential goods and services […]

Abstract The paper delves into the persistent issue of manual scavenging in India. Manual scavenging, an abominable practice, is deeply rooted in the country’s societal fabric despite legislative efforts to eradicate it. This paper examines the socio-economic complexities sustained through the practice and highlights the loopholes in the present system that allow for continued exploitation […]

India is many things – among others, it is often critical to remind oneself that we speak about a subcontinent with heterogeneous and distinct identities, cultures, languages and priorities. Even as we come together as one people, we remain in many ways subject to far too many interpretations, hence often easily misunderstood. Unlike multiple other […]

Introduction The Indian pharmaceutical sector holds a significant position in the global pharmaceutical industry, ranking among the top providers of generic medicines globally. It stands as the world’s third-largest pharmaceutical industry in volume and the fourteenth-largest in value. In the previous year, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman emphasised India’s recognition as “the global pharmacy” due […]

ABOUT THE REPORT India has focused considerably on improving its education system in recent years. With nearly 2.68 crore citizens being persons with disabilities, the education system is slowly pivoting to accommodate the needs of students with disabilities. For instance, the New Education Policy 2020 makes several provisions to address the inequality of access to […]

ABSTRACT Tribal communities in India are some of the most vulnerable social groups despite having a special status guaranteed by the Indian Constitution. Being at the margins both in the demographic and socio-economic sense, they experience extreme inequalities, especially in their access to healthcare. This Issue Brief attempts to locate these tribal communities in the public […]

In 2017, the National Nutrition Mission (NNM) or POSHAN Abhiyan was launched by the government of India to improve nutritional outcomes for children, pregnant women, and lactating mothers. The mission was aimed at monitoring, supervising, setting targets, and guiding nutrition-related policies across ministries (PIB 2017). This was to be achieved by initially mapping all ongoing […]