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Showing posts from November, 2021

Addressing human trafficking in the wake of the Covid-19 disaster

By Simi Mehta* Human Trafficking is a deeply engraved issue in the world. This issue isn’t exclusive to any state or region, but South Asia and some parts of the developing world are more deeply impacted by it than anywhere else. It has been stagnant for quite a while without any progress upon the same. The state of human trafficking after a disaster and conflict when the state, police, or the army is in dismay is worth highlighting. To highlight the issue and deliberate over the book “Disaster and Human Trafficking”, the IMPRI Centre for Environment, Climate Change and Sustainable Development (CECCSD) , IMPRI Impact and Policy Research Institute, New Delhi hosted a Book Discussion on ‘Disaster and Human Trafficking‘ by Prof Mondira Dutta under #WebPolicyTalk. The discussion was flagged off by the chair of the session, Prof V. K. Malhotra, Member Secretary, Indian Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi. At the start, he gave a brief about his experiences of working with the auth

Healthcare expenditure through the lens of Health Satellite Accounts

By Dr Poonam Munjal, Dr Palash Baruah* The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” The role of health as an engine of economic growth is not entirely unsubstantiated. Investments in health care lead to better, healthier lives for the populace, which in turn, increases productivity, and creates an efficient workforce, thereby significantly adding to the social and economic progress of any country. It is in this context that the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) has a target to “Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages” by 2030. Healthcare and people’s well-being has been one of the greatest priorities of government at all levels – central, state and local. This has assumed critical importance since the advent of an unprecedented health crisis in the form of the COVID-19 pandemic across the world. Governments have had to spend

How states, governments, corporates collaborate to exploit environment

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak* The progressive Odia daily newspaper ‘Dharitri’ organised ‘Odisha Youth Conclave on Climate Change’ while celebrating its 48th birthday on November 24, 2021. In a profit driven mass media industry with its rent seeking family ownerships, it is rare these days for newspapers to think about people and planet. The ‘Dharitri’ and its family deserve all appreciation for being different and carrying forward the alternative visions for a better tomorrow based on peace, prosperity and environmental sustainability. The ‘Dharitri Youth Conclave 2021’ was well attended by elderly dignitaries, officials and students with youthful spirit. The elderly dignitaries and official spokespersons have followed their well scripted speeches and delusional self-praise, whereas there were sparkling hopes in the voices of participating students and young people in the conclave. They managed to outline the alternative visions for a sustainable future while focusing on predicaments of cl

Bureaucrats in India, China fail to convince politicians about natural resource abuse

By Shankar Sharma* This line of thinking, as suggested in the following links, can be said to be very unfortunate and disastrous for the humanity: China urges developed countries to take the lead in cutting out coal ; There’s an $80-billion hole in India’s climate pledge ; After Glasgow, world needs urgent action to stave off catastrophe ; and Sixty years of climate change warnings: the signs that were missed (and ignored) . The two of the largest, densely populous and highest polluters, India and China, seem to have commonality at least on such irresponsible line of thinking. Have the bloated bureaucracy in these two counties failed to convince their political leaders that the level of fossil fuel burning as we seem them today, which can only increase exponentially in a BAU scenario, and the larger threats of Climate Change will devastate every section of our own people much before impacting the rich countries? The inevitability of the calamitous abuse of our natural resources becau

Disaster resilient spatial planning: Perspectives on local-regional governance

By Arjun Kumar Over the past few years, we have witnessed a series of devastating climate disasters in various parts of the world that led to wide-scale destruction and loss of livelihoods. It is indisputable that changes in the global climate have amplified the risks of climate hazards and extreme weather disasters. These calamities have not only made us revisit our practices and work towards sustainable development but have also raised questions on our current disaster resilience plans. On the 13th of October, which is celebrated as the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, the IMPRI Center for Habitat, Urban and Regional Studies (CHURS) organized a panel discussion on ‘Disaster Resilient Spatial Planning: Perspectives on Local and Regional Governance and Impact’. This discussion was held as part of the #WebPolicyTalk series #LocalGovernence. The distinguished panel included Dr. Nivedita P. Haran, Former Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Kerala, Dr. Divya Sharma, Exe

New labour codes: Strengthening systems to ensure rights of informal worker

A Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) note on workshop organised for the need to strengthen systems to ensure rights of informal workers in the backdrop of new labour codes: *** The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), an NGO working on legal empowerment and access to justice, organised a capacity building program on issues facing workers. The aim of the event was to discuss the current system of labour registration and the effect of the new labour codes on the registration process and social security of unorganised workers. The program witnessed participation of labour activists, social workers and Labour Entitlement Facilitators (LECs) from the states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Over 60 participants from different districts of these states shared their views on the existing registration process of unorganised workers and the practical difficulties faced by them. The Supreme Court during the first lockdown had ordered the Central Government to develop a mechanism for registrat

Discussion on “The Light of Asia, The Poem that Defined the Buddha”

By Amita Singh Book “The Light of Asia: The Poem that Defined the Buddha” is a compelling and comprehensive account of the epic poem of the same name authored by Sir Edwin Arnold that was first published in 1879. The book goes into intricate detail to unearth the nuances present in one of the richest narrative poems ever written. A book discussion on, ‘The Light of Asia: The Poem that Defined The Buddha’, a narrative of the life and message of the Buddha was organized on the 7th of October by the Center for Human Dignity and Development at the Impact and Policy Research Institute ( IMPRI ), New Delhi. The distinguished panelists included the Author and Speaker Jairam Ramesh, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha (Karnataka); Author and Former Union Minister, Prof Tansen Sen, Professor of History, Director, Center for Global Asia, NYU Shanghai; Global Network Professor, NYU, Prof Wasantha Seneviratne, Professor and Head, Department of Public and International Law, Faculty of Law, Univers

Forced lockdown led to an increasing demand for plotted developments

By Arjun Kumar The Indian real estate sector contributes around 6 percent to the GDP and this figure is expected to rise to 13 percent by 2025. The housing sector has a great future ahead as mortgage penetration is very low in India and the family size is large. Emphasizing on the significance of the housing sector and the changes it has went through over the course of the pandemic, #IMPRI Center for Habitat, Urban and Regional Studies (CHURS) , IMPRI Impact and Policy Research Institute, New Delhi presented a special lecture with Prashant Thakur on The Housing Market amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic as part of the series The State of Cities – #CityConversations. Dr. Rumi Aijaz, Senior Fellow, Observer Research Foundation (ORF), New Delhi, welcomed the speaker and discussants before delivering his enlightening comments. He said, “The housing sector does not need an introduction. Its significance is very well understood.” It is also important as it offers opportunities to various stakehol

Protect and promote the native crop diversity in India

By Sudhansu R Das Construction of National Highways for the movement of goods and services, agro processing industries, storage, godowns, super markets, commercial farming and advanced agriculture technologies etc are unable to check the rising food price in the country. The food price in the country has skyrocketed adding to hunger, malnutrition and stunted growth; it gives pain to people during the pandemic when people have lost income sources. One drumstick costs Rs 12 in Mumbai, Rs 15 in Pune and Rs 14 in Hyderabad when drumstick trees grow abundantly in the Indian climate. The tomato is sold at Rs 80 per kg in Hyderabad in winter season, brinjal at Rs 75 per kg in Mumbai. Besides vegetables, the cost of food grains and edible oil has become very costly due to various reasons. Fuel price rise, high transportation cost, increase in the cost of cultivation, growing demand from agro processors, growth of hotel chains, sourcing of food crops by super markets, shrinking of fertile ag

COP28: Key polluters paid lip service instead of action for low carbon future

By Gopal Krishna* Some 24 members of the Like Minded Developing Countries (LMDC) and 55 countries of the African Group (AG) comprising 54℅+17℅=71 ℅ of world population have been excluded from unjust 26th Conference of Parties (COP26) of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This situation creates a compelling logic for adoption of the third commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol for post 2020 period because the 37 countries failed to comply with it with impunity. The COP 26 negotiators suffers from poverty of imagination under the influence of corporations which have made nation states subservient to their naked lust for profit at any cost. These 37 countries played a notorious role in killing the Kyoto Protocol and replacing it with a non-binding treaty. Let us recall how at COP 21 in Paris, on 12 December 2015, the Parties to the UNFCCC reached a voluntary agreement (Paris Agreement) to combat climate crisis. The Paris Agreement was framed pursuant to Wa

There is a need to hunt for cricket talent in small towns and districts

By Sudhansu R Das Team India’s embarrassing ten wicket loss to Pakistan, eight wicket loss to New Zealand and its early exit before the IPL world cup semifinal raised many questions about the team’s preparedness, players’ selection, core strength, genuine analysis from cricket experts, coaching ability, leadership and the captain’s ability to change strategy as per the game situation etc. Though India registered the highest IPL total of 210 runs against Afghanistan, chased 83 runs in only 39 balls against Scotland and a nine wicket victory over Namibia, all these things cannot hide Team India’s lack of preparedness for the IPL World Cup. India had entered the tournament with over confidence. The first three world cup matches exposed India’s bowling attack which lacked quality back up pace bowler and a quality spinner. India’s spin attack has improved a bit after the inclusion of Ravichandra Aswini; both Aswini and Jadeja bowled in tandem against Afghanistan. Though Ravindra Jadeja has

What is behind IPCC warning that capitalism is unsustainable

By Shankar Sharma* A research paper published in Nature Energy website Reframing incentives for climate policy action has argued that about half of the world’s fossil fuel assets could become worthless by 2036 in the ongoing scenario of net zero transition. When we objectively consider various problems associated with fossil fuel usage, it is not difficult to imagine the credibility of such a scenario. But what is critically more important for a poor and resource constrained country like India is to objectively consider the colossal losses to its people, not only from the stranded capital costs, but also the costs associated with various other resources such as land, water, coal, the infrastructural facilities linked to civil/construction engineering, electricity, water reticulation etc. loss of forest and vegetation cover etc. In India’s case more than half of coal power assets can be expected to face the likelihood of becoming worthless for various reasons. Even if our political lea

‘The Closer’ on Netflix: Some valuable lessons with a pinch of transphobia

Dave Chapelle By Ajit Singh* Since the last few weeks there’s been a mounting backlash against Comedian Dave Chapelle’s Netflix Special “The Closer” which debuted on October 5th. The controversy erupted as some people alleged that the show was extremely transphobic & anti-women. Even the employees of Streaming giant staged protests & demanded the content must be removed from the platform. The comedian in a video message remained unapologetic & defended the act. He said, “…. do not blame the LBGTQ community for any of this shit. This has nothing to do with them. It’s about corporate interests and what I can say and what I cannot say”. To understand what’s behind the controversy, I took a shot to watch it myself. Surely the experience was neither as enlightening as Hannah Gadsby’s Nannet nor even whittier like Alan Wong’s but indeed the performance is not a junk or a taser. Here’s my interpretation of The Closer. What it has got right & where it gets problematic. Advantag

Tarlabaşı, Turkey’s safe haven for migrants, which exemplifies social marginalisation

By Katarzyna Rybarczyk*   In the words of May Hobbs, ‘one person’s slum is another person’s community.’ This phrase finds itsreflection in the case study of Tarlabaşı, often referred to as Istanbul’s oldest slum. What in minds of many is a no-go area, has become home for thousands of new arrivals in Turkey who hoped for a better life but instead became victims of social exclusion. Historically, Tarlabaşı was a place where minorities, such as Armenians, Jews, and Greeks, fleeing political instability and dire economic conditions would find shelter. Since the 19th century, Tarlabaşı has been a residential area for the low-income class where predominantly non-Muslims live. Today it is one of Istanbul’s most impoverished areas, a ghetto integrated into the urban landscape of the city. The contrast between Tarlabaşı and the neighbourhoods adjacent to it is striking. Tarlabaşı is just a few minutes away from Taksim square, the heart of Istanbul, and Istiklal Avenue boasting some of the city