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Economic Survey 2020: Chapter 10-The Bare Necessities

Access to “the bare necessities” such as housing, water, sanitation, electricity and clean cooking fuel are a sine qua non to live a decent life. This chapter examines the progress made in providing a...

by Ministry of Finance | On 30 Jan 2021

Prakriti Karyashala Case Studies: Regain and Regenerate Creating Accountability for the Commons

The mere passing of laws and regulations to preserve village commons, regenerate natural resources and enrich villages does not ensure their operationalisation. What is needed is a concerted attempt t...

by Anjali P Iyer | On 23 Jan 2021

Prakriti Karyashala Case Studies:Reclaiming Commons - Restoring and Protecting Grazing Lands from Illegal Dumping

While tourism may support a town economy, it can also damage the environment and ecology of the surrounding villages and destroy common grazing lands. Here’s how two villages fought to preserve their...

by Anjali P Iyer | On 06 Dec 2020

Book Review of 'Black Baseball's Last Team Standing'

The book is extraordinarily well researched, drawing from newspaper accounts in almost thirty different states, and probably the most comprehensive record of the Black Barons and their significance in...

by David Lee McMullen | On 12 Jun 2020

Book Review of 'Empire and Ecology in the Bengal Delta: The Making of Calcutta'.

Review of Empire and Ecology in the Bengal Delta: The Making of Calcutta by Debjani Bhattacharyya. Studies in Environment and History Series. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018. Illustratio...

by | On 07 May 2020

Book Review: Nine Innings during a War

Review of 'Nine Innings for the King: The Day Wartime London Stopped for Baseball, July 4, 1918' by Jim Leeke, McFarland, 2015. 216 pp. $19.99 (paper), ISBN 978-0-7864- 7870-5.

by Leslie Heaphy | On 01 Mar 2019

Changing Structure of Employment in Indian States

The study attempts a comparative assessment of the changing employment situation in major Indian states, measured in terms of worker-population ratios and the distribution of workers into status group...

by A.V. Jose | On 01 Feb 2019

Enlargement Decisions of Regional Trading Blocs with Asymmetric Members

This paper analyzes the conditions under which an existing bilateral free trade area (FTA) prefers to expand in size and when it prefers consolidation through customs union (CU) formation when the exi...

by Sunandan Ghosh | On 31 Jan 2019

Globalization and the Re-Articulations of the Local: A Case Study from Kerala’s Midlands

This paper is a preliminary attempt to understand globalisation and social transformation in the rural Kerala. It addresses the socioeconomic changes in a village in the mid-land region of Kerala name...

by Mijo Luke | On 31 Jan 2019

Transformation of Indian Agriculture? Growth, Inclusiveness and Sustainability

This paper provides 10 conclusions on the policies needed to achieve three goals of agricultural development in India. These are : (1) There is a need for change in the narrative in the new context; (...

by S. Mahendra Dev | On 26 Dec 2018

Identifying the Costs of a Public Health Success: Arsenic Well Water Contamination and Productivity in Bangladesh

This paper exploits the recent molecular genetics evidence on the genetic basis of arsenic excretion and unique information on family links among respondents living in different environments from a la...

by Mark M. Pitt | On 22 Nov 2018

How Do We Prevent a Food Crisis in the Midst of Climate Change?

The current global warming trends are extremely likely to be the result of human social and economic activity since the middle of the 20th century (NASA 2018). Evidence of rapid climate change varies...

by Kunmin Kim | On 21 Nov 2018

Demand for Information on Environmental Health Risk, Mode of Delivery, and Behavioral Change: Evidence from Sonargaon, Bangladesh

Lack of access to reliable information on environmental exposure limits opportunities for risk avoiding behavior, particularly in developing countries. Private markets could potentially play a role in...

by Ricardo Maertens | On 04 Oct 2018

Governing the Commons? Water and Power in Pakistan’s Indus Basin

Surface irrigation is a common pool resource characterized by asymmetric appropriation opportunities across upstream and downstream water users. Large canal systems are also predominantly state-manage...

by Hanan G. Jacoby | On 04 Oct 2018

Women’s Land Title Ownership and Empowerment: Evidence from India

This paper examines how women’s participation in family decision-making is affected by land rights in rural areas in India. The 2005 Hindu Succession Act was legislated to protect women’s rights to an...

by Harold Glenn A. Valera | On 26 Sep 2018

Rationale and Institution for Public – Private Partnerships

Private–public partnership (PPP) methods are considered to be an effective way to narrow the gap between demand and supply of social infrastructure. If successfully pursued, PPP can deliver benefits t...

by Jungwook Kim | On 19 Sep 2018

Public–Private Partnership Development in Southeast Asia

Infrastructure development in Southeast Asia has been financed mainly by public funds, which leave wide gaps in majority of countries. Governments have tried to attract the private sector by offering...

by Fauziah Zen | On 16 Aug 2018

Managing Credit Risk and Improving Access to Finance in Green Energy Projects

The cost of finance has a relatively high impact on the returns and viability of clean energy projects compared with fossil fuel-based energy projects, because the operating costs for renewable energy...

by Purkayastha Dhruba | On 13 Aug 2018

Documenting Heritage of Localities around Hyderabad Issues and Challenges

The story of irrevocable erasure and thoroughgoing transformation is part of the story of ‘development’ around Hyderabad as it is elsewhere. A case study of the transformation affecting the villages i...

by Aloka Parasher Sen | On 26 Jul 2018

Hazard Analysis on Public–Private Partnership Projects in Developing Asia

. This paper applies survival time hazard analysis to estimate how project-related, macroeconomic, and institutional factors affect the hazard rate of the projects. Empirical results show that governm...

by Minsoo Lee | On 25 Jul 2018

Measuring Transboundary Water Cooperation: Learning from the Past to Inform the Sustainable Development Goals

This paper mines relevant past work to generate guidance for monitoring the proposed SDG target related to transboundary water cooperation. Potential measures of water cooperation were identified, fil...

by Davison Saruchera | On 27 Jun 2018

Methods to Investigate the Hydrology of the Himalayan Springs: A Review

This paper reviews the methods that investigate the hydrology of springs, with a focus on the Himalayan region. The methods are classified as field-based empirical and desk-based analytical. Field-bas...

by Pennan Chinnasamy | On 27 Jun 2018

Financial Inclusion, Regulation, Financial Literacy and Financial Education in Armenia

Financial inclusion has significantly advanced in Armenia during the last decade. Rural and urban areas, however, have benefited unevenly. The high cost of providing financial services, the lack of ph...

by Armen Nurbekyan | On 07 Jun 2018

Young Enterprises and Bank Credit Denials

By employing a sample of 20,956 observations of non-financial SMEs headquartered in the Euro area, between 2009 and 2015, the paper tests whether young businesses are more likely to face credit reject...

by Danilo V. Mascia | On 06 Jun 2018

Family Businesses: The Emerging Landscape 1990 - 2015

The widespread reforms were expected to bring about significant transformations in the structure, operations, allocation of resources (including capital) and competitiveness of the businesses in India...

by Nupur Bang | On 27 Apr 2018

Beyond Borders: A Report Produced by the Environmental Justice Foundation Our Changing Climate – Its Role in Conflict and Displacement

Climate change is an environmental and a human rights issue. EJF views climate change as a primary threat to world peace and security, development and human rights in the 21st century.

by Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) | On 06 Apr 2018

Field Visit on Springs and Springshed Management for Reviving Drying Springs

There is increasing evidence of drying springs, decreasing spring discharge, and deteriorating spring water quality in many parts of the HKH.

by International Centre Mountain Development | On 04 Apr 2018

Knowledge Sharing Workshop on Springs and Springshed Management for Reviving Drying Springs

Mountain springs are the primary source of water for millions of people in the mid-hills of the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH).

by International Centre Mountain Development | On 04 Apr 2018

Nature-Based Solutions For Water

Nature-based solutions (NBS) are inspired and supported by nature and use, or mimic, natural processes to contribute to the improved management of water.

by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultura UNESCO | On 23 Mar 2018

Awareness and the Demand for Environmental Quality: Drinking Water in Urban India

The demand for environmental quality is often presumed to be low in developing countries due to poverty. Less attention has been paid to the possibility that lack of awareness about the adverse heal...

by | On 22 Mar 2018

Drinking Water and Well Being in India: Data Envelopment Analysis

The study examines the use of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) for the estimation of the well being from drinking water using ‘commodities and capabilities’ approach. DEA uses the general purpose li...

by | On 22 Mar 2018

The Water Gap – The State of the World’s Water 2018

In a startling reminder that our world’s most precious resource is becoming increasingly scarce for too much of the population, reminding us of the need for better and fairer management of Earth’s...

by Water Aid NGO | On 22 Mar 2018

The State of the World's Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture: Managing Systems at Risk

The issue of land and water for crops. It examines the kinds of production responses needed to meet demand. It also assesses the potential of the world’s land and water resources to support these de...

by Food and Agricultural Organization [FAO] | On 22 Mar 2018

People-to-People Partnership in Asia Africa Growth Corridor: Historical and Cultural Linkages

People-to-People Partnership (PPP) is an important and inevitable mode of interactions in the sphere of international relations. In any kind of developmental, diplomatic and cultural interactions and...

by | On 15 Mar 2018

Social Rewards and the Design of Voluntary Incentive Mechanism for Biodiversity Protection on Farmland

The paper examines how endogenous social preferences could affect economic incentive design to encourage biodiversity protection on private land. A 'green' farmer may enjoy esteem from leading by exam...

by Rupayan Pal | On 22 Feb 2018

Citizen Engagement, Deliberative Spaces and the Consolidation of a Post-Authoritarian Democracy: The Case of Indonesia

This paper argues that support for citizen participation and accountability among civil society actors can consolidate local deliberative spaces and improve the performance of local government.

by Hans Antlöv | On 07 Feb 2018

Empowerment of Dalits and Adivasis: Role of Education in the Emerging Economy

Well friends, let me begin by narrating a short story. In the Indian epic Mahabharata, dated around one thousand B.C., there is a celebrated fable about Ekalavya, an Adivasi boy; some of you will cer...

by | On 06 Feb 2018

Economic Survey 2017: Volume I, Chapter 6: Climate, Climate Change, and Agriculture

Using district-level data on temperature, rainfall and crop production, this chapter documents a long-term trend of rising temperatures, declining average precipitation, and increase in extreme prec...

by Arun Jaitley | On 31 Jan 2018

Sports History in India: Prospects And Problems

This is a modified and extended version of the paper presented at an international conference on ‘Sport, Culture and Society in Modern India’ held in Calcutta University in 2003.

by | On 27 Jan 2018

Book Review of 'Playing Through the Whistle'

Book review of 'Playing through the Whistle: Steel, Football, and an American Town' by S L Price, Atlantic Monthly Press, New York, 2016. x + 550 pp. $27.00. Journalist S. L. Price tells a story of h...

by | On 26 Jan 2018

Nuclear Weapon: Issues, Threat and Consequence Management

The brief says that invention of nuclear weapons, the ultimate among the three weapons of mass destruction, has given rise to completely novel conditions that have fundamentally affected the concept o...

by Animesh Roul | On 22 Jan 2018

The Politics of Institutional Reform and Post-Conflict Violence in Nepal

How does the reform of state institutions shape prospects for peace after war? Existing re- search on the institutional causes of peace focuses on how institutional designs, as the out- comes of ref...

by Julia Strasheim | On 17 Jan 2018

Northeast India: The Emerging Scenarios

The paper narrates that in today’s age of globalization and trans-border connectivity, the Northeast is fast emerging as the potential gateway for India to Southeast and East Asia through Myanmar.

by Namrata Goswami | On 17 Jan 2018

India’s Water Challenges

Threats of international water conflicts have garnered headlines in many parts of the world including South Asia. Yet, there are almost no examples of outright water war in history. Instead, national...

by | On 12 Jan 2018

Mapping Spaces For Democratic Participation In South Aceh Indonesia

The paper explored participatory aspects of local democracy in Aceh and some major challenges in South Aceh for people’s participation in local decision-making processes.

by Leena Avonius | On 08 Jan 2018

An Evaluation of Domestic and Trade Policies in Building Environmental Services Capacity in Asia: Balancing Diverse Interests and Priorities

This paper provides an overview of the state of the environmental services sector in Asia, by focusing on the most significant segments of infrastructural services namely, water, sanitation and munici...

by Aparna Sawhney | On 01 Jan 2018

Reviewing the Status of Education in Tribal Areas in Maharashtra

One of the biggest challenges faced by the Indian education system in the last several decades since Independence has been expansion without a simultaneous assurance of equity in educational opportuni...

by Centre for Budget and Policy Studies CBPS | On 01 Jan 2018

The Potential for Carbon Dioxide Equivalent Sequestration in Agro-Manitoba

The report says that Manitoba is a province rich in agricultural lands, where the agriculture sector is a cornerstone for the economy.

by International Centre and Sustainable Development | On 18 Dec 2017

Can Cheap Oil Hurt Net Importers? Evidence from the Philippines

This paper evaluates the impact of oil price shocks on the Philippines—a developing country and a net oil-importing economy.

by Arlan Brucal | On 15 Dec 2017

Helping India Achieve 24x7 Water Supply Service by 2010

The period 2005–2015 has been designated by the United Nations as the International Decade for Action on “Water for Life” and was launched on World Water Day, 22 March 2005. The decade is designed to...

by | On 15 Dec 2017

What is Global History?

As young historians promptly discover on their own, the term "world history," as is its counterpart, "global history," is the most current trend in the study of history.

by Orel Beilinson | On 14 Dec 2017

Viability of Inland Water Transport in India

In water-based transport generally, fuel costs are low and environmental pollution is lower than in transport by road, rail, or air. The waterway is naturally available, which has to be ‘trained’, m...

by | On 13 Dec 2017

Evaluation and Assessment of the Effectiveness of the DSWD Internal and External Convergence as Operationalized by the Regional, Provincial, and City/Municipality Action Teams

This study aims to describe and examine organizational structures, business processes, and capacity development, as they relate to the design of DSWD’s Convergence Strategy.

by Jose Ramon G. Albert | On 11 Dec 2017

How Government Funds Help To Reduce Poverty?: A Case Study of CIF & BISP in Sindh

The study analyzes the impact of these programmes over a specific period of six years.

by Junaid Zahid | On 17 Nov 2017

24/7 Normalized Water Supply through Innovative Public–Private Partnership: Case Study from Ilkal Town, Karnataka, India

Public–private partnerships (PPPs) are seen, in particular by the Government of India, as a mechanism to improve the performance of utilities and generate efficiency gains in the delivery of water ser...

by Asian Bank | On 15 Nov 2017

Analyzing Adoption of soil Conservation Measures by Farmers in Darjeeling District, India

The study attempts to assess the key determinants of the decision to adopt soil conservation. The study area is Teesta River Watershed, in Darjeeling District in the Eastern Himalayas. In the watershe...

by Chandan Singha | On 07 Nov 2017

The Impact of MGNREGA on Agricultural Outcomes and the Rural Labour Market: A Matched DID Approach

This paper attempts to address the impact of the MGNREGA on the rural agricultural sector, focusing on cropping patterns, irrigated area, crop yields, wages and rural employment. The analysis is based...

by Deepak Varshney | On 06 Nov 2017

From reference levels to results reporting: REDD+ under the UNFCCC

This report will also summarize experiences with the technical assessment process as of early 2017 and offer an overview of initial REDD+ results reporting and technical analyses of those reports.

by Food and Agricultural Organization [FAO] | On 31 Oct 2017

Socio-economic and Environmental Factors Affecting Health in District Bhimber (AJK)

This study evaluates the impact of various socio economic and environmental variables on the incidence of diseases in district Bhimber of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).

by Salma Kousar | On 27 Oct 2017

Who Will Think Outside the Sink? Farmers’ Willingness to Invest in Technologies for Groundwater Sustainability in Pakistan

This study examines farmers’ enthusiasm towards one of such technologies in four southwestern districts of Pakistan.

by Junaid Memon | On 25 Oct 2017

Measure and determinants of chronic and transient poverty in the Philippines

This Policy Note addresses this lack of a measure of chronic and transient poverty in the Philippines.

by Connie Bayudan-Dacuycuy | On 29 Sep 2017

The Political Historiography of Modern Gujarat

The focus of this paper is on the political history of modern Gujarat, which has been an intriguing one. The paper identifies and discusses in the broad landscape of Gujarat’s politics three notable d...

by Tannen Neil Lincoln | On 14 Sep 2017

Usage of Land and Labour under Shifting Cultivation in Manipur

Shifting cultivation remains the main source of employment for large sections of the rural people who depend on agriculture for their livelihood in the hill areas of Manipur. Its inputs continue to be...

by Marchang Reimeingam | On 12 Sep 2017

Livelihoods, Conservation and Forest Rights Act in a National Park: An Oxymoron?

The paper suggests certain measures to reduce the conflicts across conservation, livelihoods and forest rights. National Parks in India are highly vulnerable due to excessive pressure on their ecosyst...

by Subhashree Banerjee | On 07 Sep 2017

Chronic Food Poverty in the Philippines

This paper finds that deviation of rainfall from its normal values and other key variables such as education, employment, assets, and armed conflict affect chronic food poverty.

by Connie Bayudan-Dacuycuy | On 05 Sep 2017

Thirsting for Justice: Transparency and Poor People’s Struggle for Clean Water in Indonesia, Mongolia, and Thailand

This report explores the challenges facing rural communities in Indonesia, Thailand, and Mongolia when they try to obtain information on pollution and evaluates the multiple laws and pathways in e...

by Carole Excell | On 01 Sep 2017

Getting Punjab Agriculture Back on High Growth Path: Sources, Drivers and Policy Lessons

The study finds that among the many steps taken by the state, three interventions played the most important role in the state’s impressive performance in agriculture. They are irrigation facilities, a...

by Ashok Gulati | On 23 Aug 2017

Training of Trainers Module on Sustainable Development Goals and Gram Panchayats

The report narrates that ensure access to social protection measures for the poor and the vulnerable.

by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) | On 16 Aug 2017

A Sustainable Development Framework for India’s Climate Policy: Interim Report

This study’s framework could serve as an alternative development paradigm for India and other developing countries.

by Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy CSTEP | On 14 Aug 2017

“Lasting environmental change requires bottom up and top down approaches”

In an interview with eSocialSciences, Abhishek Narayan, the founder of citizens group Clean Adyar Initiative, opens up on the importance of community involvement in bringing about environmental change...

by Amrit B L S | On 08 Aug 2017

Positive Peace Report 2016

This report introduces new thinking and evidence about Positive Peace.

by Institute for Economics and Peace | On 04 Aug 2017

Inequality of Opportunities Among Ethnic Groups in the Philippines

This paper contributes to the scant body of literature on inequalities among and within ethnic groups in the Philippines by examining both the vertical and horizontal measures in terms of opportunitie...

by Celia M. Reyes | On 02 Aug 2017

Can Bihar Break the Clientelist Trap? The Political Effects of Programmatic Development Policy

It is widely recognized that politics affects policy-making, but there is little knowledge about how politics can be made more conducive to effective governance. This study reverses the relationship...

by Jonathan Phillips | On 02 Aug 2017

Cities, Towns, and Poverty: Migration Equilibrium and Income Distribution in a Todaro-type Model with Multiple Destinations

Should public investment be targeted to big cities or to small towns, if the objective is to minimize national poverty? To answer this policy question the basic Todaro-type model of rural-urban migr...

by Luc Christiaensen | On 01 Aug 2017

24x7 Power for All: Strategies for Karnataka

The report concludes with the strategies that Karnataka should focus on in order to achieve the objectives of 24x7 Power for All.

by Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy CSTEP | On 31 Jul 2017

Construction and Demolition Waste Utilisation for Recycled Products in Bengaluru: Challenges and Prospects

The report narrates that CDW can be recycled to replace natural building material; this is not only beneficial for the environment, but also results in substantial cost and resource savings.

by Venkatesh Vunnam | On 28 Jul 2017

Conservation of Genetic Resources of Crops: Farmer Preferences for Banana Diversity in Sri Lanka

This study investigates farmer preferences for banana diversity in Sri Lanka. First, it investigate farmers' attitudes towards banana cultivation in the country. Secondly, it also estimate diversity s...

by Wasantha Athukorala | On 28 Jul 2017

Electric Buses in India: Technology, Policy and Benefits

The current policy climate in India is rightly addressing the challenges of electric buses, providing an environment to accelerate their adoption and implementation.

by Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy CSTEP | On 27 Jul 2017

Causal Impact of the Adoption of Soil Conservation Measures on Farm Profit, Revenue and Variable Cost in Darjeeling District, India

This study attempts to evaluate the effects of on-farm soil conservation practices on farm profit and its components, revenue, and variable cost. Since farmers self-select themselves as adopters of a...

by Chandan Singha | On 27 Jul 2017

Gender Equality Results Case Study: India - Urban Water Supply and Environmental Improvement Project

The Urban Water Supply and Environmental Improvement Project sought to provide basic services of water supply, sanitation, and garbage collection and disposal in four cities in Madhya Pradesh, India.

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 26 Jul 2017

Gender Equality Results Case Study: Nepal - Community-Based Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project

The project developed a gender, caste, and ethnicity (GCE) strategy that sought to ensure the participation of women and ethnic minorities in decision-making processes, as well as their increased repr...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 25 Jul 2017

Metaguidelines for Water and Climate Change: For practitioners in Asia and the Pacific

This publication is a continuation of the APWF Framework Document on Water and Climate Change Adaptation, developed for leaders and policy-makers in Asia and the Pacific in 2012.

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 12 Jul 2017

Harmonization and Standardization of Bond Market Infrastructures in ASEAN+3: ASEAN+3 Bond Market Forum Sub-Forum 2 Phase 3 Report

This report is an outcome of Phase 3 discussions under the ASEAN+3 Bond Market Forum Sub-Forum 2, which have focused on making bond market infrastructures in the region more inter-operable through the...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 11 Jul 2017

Quantifying Water and Energy Linkages in Irrigation: Experiences From Viet Nam

This publication summarizes the results of a pilot study to quantify water and energy use in high-effciency irrigation systems in Viet Nam.

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 10 Jul 2017

Improving Interchanges: Introducing Best Practices on Multimodal Interchange Hub Development in the People’s Republic of China

This report provides an discussion on a range of important issues in the interchange hub design. It also provides a general approach in developing a good interchange hub.

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 04 Jul 2017

Reviving Lakes and Wetlands in the People’s Republic of China, Volume 2: Lessons Learned on Integrated Water Pollution Control from Chao Lake Basin

This publication continues the ADB’s analysis of lake and wetland rehabilitation in the People’s Republic of China and examines how the current situation in the Chao Lake Basin compares with internati...

by All-India Drug Action Network (AIDAN) | On 03 Jul 2017

Book Review: Lifted: A Cultural History of the Elevator

Most of us ride an elevator on a weekly if not daily basis without much thought. The contemporary ordinariness of the elevator, however, obscures its epochal importance. In "Lifted: A Cultural History...

by Nathan Cardon | On 28 Jun 2017

Asian Development Outlook 2015 Supplement: Growth Holds Its Own in Developing Asia

The report says Asia’s developing economies remain on track to post growth of 5.8% in 2015 and 6.0% in 2016, as the region’s economies remain resilient to continued economic weakness in industrialized...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 26 Jun 2017

Development of Backward Areas Outcome of the interventions so far

The problem of balanced regional development received much greater attention in the Third Five Year Plan. The Plan took a more positive view of the possibility of reaching regional balance. It stated...

by MC Singhi | On 22 Jun 2017

Balancing the Burden? Desk Review of Women’s Time Poverty and Infrastructure in Asia and the Pacific

This desk review explores the links between infrastructure development and women’s time poverty in Asia and the Pacific by drawing on time-use data and reviewing existing research and evidence from im...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 22 Jun 2017

Sri Lanka: Development Effectiveness Brief

The paper says that Sri Lanka has emerged in recent years as one of the most dynamic countries in South Asia. With a rich cultural heritage, an increasingly sophisticated work force, and a strategic l...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 19 Jun 2017

Enhancing Community-Driven Development through Convergence: A Case Study of Household- and Community-Based Initiatives in Philippine Villages

The study examines the Philippine government’s convergence initiative, and how it relates to community-driven development (CDD) that can impact rural communities in the Philippines.

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 09 Jun 2017

Reviving Lakes and Wetlands in the People's Republic of China, Volume 3: Best Practices and Prospects for the Sanjiang Plain Wetlands

The report narrates that the Sanjiang Plain wetlands are among the most important wetlands in the People’s Republic of China with unique habitats, species, and ecology. There is a considerable body of...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 08 Jun 2017

Papua New Guinea: Development Effectiveness Brief

This report narrates that ADB has scaled up its assistance to Papua New Guinea for power infrastructure, with an emphasis on clean energy solutions, in line with the government’s prioritization of pow...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 08 Jun 2017

Gender Equality Results Case Study: Nepal Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women Project

This report presents the case study of that project, whose special features include responsiveness to local contexts and to conditions created by conflict, a well-coordinated system for women collecti...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 06 Jun 2017

Incentives for Reducing Disaster Risk in Urban Areas

The rapid growth of urban areas has often resulted in the siting of poorly designed infrastructure and assets in hazard-prone areas, increasing disaster risk.

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 05 Jun 2017

From Toilets to Rivers: Experiences, New Opportunities, and Innovative Solutions: Volume 2

The project briefs are culled from case studies of good practices, new approaches, and working models on sanitation and wastewater management from different countries, and demonstrate solution options...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 05 Jun 2017

Myanmar Transport Sector Policy Note: Rural Roads and Access

Rural roads and rural transport services are fundamental to reducing rural poverty and enabling social and economic development. Evidence from Myanmar, and from around the world, makes it clear that a...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 01 Jun 2017

Promoting Inland Waterway Transport in the People's Republic of China

This publication examines the constraints in developing inland waterway transport (IWT) based on a study in the PRC’s Hunan province. Six major challenges threatening the viability of IWT and its inte...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 30 May 2017

ASEAN+3 Bond Market Guide 2016: Thailand

The paper says that the government has continued to issue bonds since then with the primary objectives being to finance the annual budget deficit, support social and economic development, and restruct...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 16 May 2017

The Emergence of Pacific Urban Villages: Urbanization Trends in the Pacific Islands

The paper narrates that the specific needs of the Pacific in the process of urbanization must be recognized and adequately addressed in the post-2015 development agenda. Key priorities include upgradi...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 15 May 2017

Agricultural Production and Groundwater Conservation: Examples of Good Practices in Shanxi Province, People’s Republic of China

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) in 2009 approved the Shanxi Integrated Agricultural Development Project to strengthen agricultural production in 26 counties in Shanxi Province. Complementing the proj...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 12 May 2017

Sanitation and Sustainable Development in Japan

The paper outlines that the sanitation has long been “beneath the radar” on the development agendas of governments worldwide. Aside from the massive investment requirements for putting in place sanita...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 12 May 2017

Mongolia: Development Effectiveness Brief

The paper mentions that over the 25 years that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has partnered with Mongolia, the country continues to be defined to a certain extent by its transition to free market re...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 10 May 2017

Sustainable Land Management in Asia: Introducing the Landscape Approach

This paper introduces that the landscape approach has provided a platform for a wide-ranging discussion about these issues, but has simultaneously opened up the opportunity for a discussion about su...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 08 May 2017

Meeting Asia's Infrastructure Needs

This report updates by presenting infrastructure investment needs for all 45 DMCs from 2016 to 2030, the final year of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Two sets of estimates are pre...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 05 May 2017

Earth Observation for a Transforming Asia and Pacific

This report summarises the main results of the initiative Earth Observation for a Transforming Asia and Pacific (EOTAP) that brought together our two institutions – the European Space Agency (ESA) an...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 05 May 2017

Vital Stats: Overview of Road Accidents in India

In 2015, there were about five lakh road accidents in India, which killed about 1.5 lakh people and injured about five lakh people. India, as a signatory to the Brasilia declaration, intends to reduc...

by Prachee Mishra | On 30 Mar 2017

Groundwater Depletion, Adaptation and Migration: Evidence from Gujarat, India

Increasing water scarcity is expected to impact food production and the livelihoods of millions of farmers in semi arid developing countries over the next decades. Multiple studies project that this a...

by | On 22 Mar 2017

Odisha Agriculture Budget : 2017-18

The first part is the Agriculture Budget, which not only covers the outlay and programmes relating to Agriculture and allied activities, but also presents the macro-economic outlook as well as the...

by Pradip Kumar Amat | On 01 Mar 2017

Lack of Toilets and Violence against Indian Women: Empirical Evidence and Policy Implications

It is now well-accepted among policy makers that the provision of water, sanitation and hygiene is a basic human right. Yet, millions of people lack access to basic toilet facilities, which anecdotal...

by | On 15 Feb 2017

The Case Against Weaponising Water

With growing water scarcity across many parts of the world, competition over access to this vital resource has been known to spark conflict. Following the September 2016 Uri attack in India, the gover...

by | On 14 Feb 2017

Collective Action on South Asia's 'Wicked Problems'

The problems of water, energy, climate change, and urbanisation, are all intertwined; they are, also, all 'wicked'. There is little consensus on how to effectively navigate these problems, let alone,...

by | On 02 Feb 2017

Debating the World in the Asian Century

As Asia finds itself in the limelight, whether in terms of major power relations, rising insecurity and potential for conflict, or economic governance, it is worth asking, even before broaching the re...

by | On 02 Feb 2017

Stakeholders' Engagements with the Community Health Worker: The Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA)

In India the Community Health Worker has long been a part of health care services for rural populations across the voluntary sector. As far as India?s public health sector is concerned, Community Heal...

by Kavita Bhatia | On 27 Jan 2017

Swachh Bharat Mission - Gramin (SBM-G): GOI, 2016-17

Using government data, this brief reports on trends for SBM-G along the following parameters: • Allocations and expenditures • Physical progress of toilets built • Expenditures incurred under ...

by Avani Kapur | On 27 Jan 2017

Escalating Pollution Threats in Urbanising Indian Cities

Rapid urbanisation with an increase in urban population from 28.3% (in 1950) to 50% (in 2010) is witnessed in megacities in India. Urbanisation is one of the demographic issues in the 21st century and...

by Bharath H. Aithal | On 16 Jan 2017

Solar Energy and Economic Development In India: A Review

Shortage of electricity prompted the countries to give a momentum to renewable energy resources. Renewable energy refers to energy resources that Aries naturally and repeatedly in the environment and...

by | On 04 Jan 2017

Local Institutional Structure and Clientelistic Access to Employment: The Case of MGNREGS in Three States of India

This work is a contribution, first, toward measuring and characterizing some features of rural clientelistic institutions and then toward exploring its impact on household access to an employment sc...

by Anindya Bhattacharya | On 30 Dec 2016

Economic Impacts of Inadequate Sanitation in India

The Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) has launched a multicountry Economics of Sanitation Initiative (ESI) to study the economic impacts of poor sanitation and the costs and benefits of improved sani...

by | On 27 Dec 2016

Cost of Controlling Water Pollution and its Impact on Industrial Efficiency

This paper estimates the cost of effluent discharge regulations for firms located in the lower Kelani River catchment in Sri Lanka. The river provides water for many economic purposes including drin...

by Asha Gunawardena | On 23 Dec 2016

The State of India's Pulses Sector

Pulses in India have recently become a topic of concern among policymakers. Members of the Opposition, for instance, have pointed to the 'exceptionally high' cost of certain pulses as an indication of...

by | On 15 Dec 2016

Higher Education and Research in India: an Overview

India has a very rich history dating back several millenniums. Knowledge was preserved and propagated through an oral tradition. In this context, the teachers set up ‘residential schools’ in their own...

by | On 07 Dec 2016

Respiratory Health Effects of Air Pollution in Delhi and its Neighboring Areas, India

In this paper we examine the overall effects of a series of new air quality regulations that have differentially affected air quality in Delhi relative to its outlying areas. Air pollution data, colle...

by | On 08 Nov 2016

Air Pollution and Health

One of the main outcomes of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) was the agreement by Member States to launch a process to develop a set of Sustainable Development Goals (...

by | On 08 Nov 2016

Female Literacy and Access to Drinking Water in Rural India

Women and girl children spend considerable time to collect water for meeting the domestic needs of the households in rural areas of many developing countries. Thus, scarcity of water can have dispropo...

by | On 25 Oct 2016

World Population Data Sheet 2016

The Population Reference Bureau informs people around the world about population, health, and the environment, and empowers them to use that information to advance the well-being of current and futu...

by | On 21 Oct 2016

Water, Megacities and Global Change

Numerous studies have explored urban growth and the emergence of the megapolitan phenomenon through increasing growth in the number of cities with over 10 million inhabitants. Similarly, the processes...

by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultura [UNESCO] | On 19 Oct 2016

Protecting Women’s and Children’s Health From a Changing Climate

The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report notes that up to 2050, the main impact of climate change on health will be an increase in illness and deaths related to the env...

by World Health Organisation (WHO) | On 13 Oct 2016

Will China’s Demographic Transition Exacerbate Its Income Inequality? A CGE Modeling with Top-down Microsimulation

Demographic transition due to population aging is an emerging trend throughout the developing world, and it is especially acute in China, which has undergone demographic transition more rapidly than...

by Xinxin Wang | On 10 Oct 2016

Glimpsing the End of Economic History? Unconditional Convergence and the Missing Middle Income Trap

This paper suggests a reinterpretation of global growth—encompassing notions of unconditional convergence and the middle income trap—in the past 50 years through the lens of growth theory. Two modes o...

by Sutirtha Roy | On 10 Oct 2016

Growth and Distribution: Understanding Developmental Regimes in Indian States

Economic and political processes differ widely across states in India. Some states have seen rapid economic growth and development while others are facing economic stagnation. The differences in outco...

by | On 07 Oct 2016

Poor Women in Urban India: Issues and Strategies

It is generally recognised that poverty is experienced differently according to their gender, age, caste, class and ethnicity and within households. Income levels, food security and indeed life choice...

by | On 05 Oct 2016

Role of Institutions and Policies in Diffusion of Micro-irrigation in Gujarat, Western India

the role of institutional innovations and subsidy policy interventions in the diffusion of micro-irrigation across the state in the recent years. While the first part makes a comprehensive review o...

by Chandra Sekhar Bahinipati | On 26 Sep 2016

Orphan Food? Nay, Future of Food ! Understanding the Pulse of the Indian Market

India can substantially increase her production and yield in pulses with a strategic emphasis on research in public and private sector, expanding irrigation infrastructure, provision of MSP to pulse...

by Satish Y Deodhar | On 23 Sep 2016

A Study of Government Urdu Primary Schools in Bengaluru

This study provides an overview of Urdu-medium primary schools in the Bengaluru urban district of Karnataka in India. Akshara’s research examined access to government-run Urdu-medium schools and iss...

by Divya Vishawanath | On 23 Sep 2016

Inter State River Water Disputes in India: A Geographical Analysis

Rivers are life line of the human being. Indian rivers are worshiped as a mother, because she cares the humanity and makes the ways easy for the people and living organism. Without the water no one ca...

by | On 20 Sep 2016

Water and Identity: An Analysis of the Cauvery River Water Dispute

This paper focuses on the dispute over river Cauvery in Southern India. Among the causes of river water disputes are contested property rights, difficulty in enforcing such rights, conflict of uses an...

by | On 20 Sep 2016

Coping with Water Scarcity. Challenge of the 21st Century

Produced on the occasion of World Water Day 2007, which focused on the issue of water scarcity, this publication addresses the challenges of water scarcity in relation to climate change, rural areas,...

by Food and Agricultural Organization [FAO] | On 16 Sep 2016

Improved Source, Improved Quality? Demand for Drinking Water Quality in Rural India

This paper tests the hypothesis that the expansion of improved drinking water supplies in rural India reduced household expenditure on water quality, offsetting some of the quality benefits from sourc...

by | On 16 Sep 2016

Water for India’s Poor: Who Pays the Price for Broken Promises?

The poor do not consume as much water as the rest of the population, but despite the promises, despite the bland assertions of politicians and policy makers, they can and frequently do pay for what li...

by | On 16 Sep 2016

Water Distress: Cauvery's Muddied Waters

Cauvery has been a source of dispute from two centuries back itself. The Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) was constituted by the government of India in 1990 to adjudicate the inter-state river w...

by Aakriti Singh | On 15 Sep 2016

Scenario Of Climate Change and Human Health in India

The article review the issues related to climate change and its adverse impact on human health in India. Evidences shows that in India climate change has caused threat to public health from extreme we...

by Varsha Chorsiya | On 12 Sep 2016

Climate Change & Infectious Diseases in India: Implications for Health Care Providers

Climate change has the potential to influence the earth’s biological systems, however, its effects on human health are not well defined. Developing nations with limited resources are expected to face...

by | On 12 Sep 2016

Water for Food: Innovative Water Management Technologies for Food Security and Poverty Alleviation

This paper sets out the water and food security challenges in Least Development Countries (LDCs) and developing countries. The document explores the rainfed-irrigation nexus in different regions of th...

by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development UNCTAD | On 12 Sep 2016

Multi-Sectoral Approaches to Nutrition: The Case for Investment by Agriculture

Globally, 165 million children under the age of 5 suffer from chronic malnutrition, or stunting, and more than half (85 million) of these children live in Asia. Increasing access to nutritious diets b...

by United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF | On 12 Sep 2016

ICT in Agriculture: Connecting Smallholders to Knowledge, Networks, and Institutions

Enhancing the ability of smallholders to connect with the knowledge, networks, and institutions necessary to improve their productivity, food security, and employment opportunities is a fundamental de...

by World Bank [WB] | On 01 Sep 2016

Does Development Aid Undermine Political Accountability? Leader and Constituent Responses to a Large-Scale Intervention

Comprehensive program evaluation requires capturing indirect effects of an intervention, such as changes in leaders’ efforts and constituents’ attitudes towards leaders. We study political economy r...

by | On 30 Aug 2016

State of Siege: Report on Encounters and Cases of Sexual Violence in Bijapur and Sukma Districts of Chhattisgarh

This report continues documenting the narrative of violence and displacement in Chhattisgarh in the name of development, by reporting on the findings of the encounter killings and sexual violence in...

by PUDR Peoples Union for Democratic Rights | On 30 Aug 2016

Water Stress Analysis and Recommendations for Water Resources Management in Ningxia

Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (referred to as “Ningxia” below) is one of the most water stressed regions in China. In order to help governments and corporations gain a better understanding of water s...

by Lijin Zhong | On 29 Aug 2016

Environmentally Induced Migration from Bangladesh to India

Environmental crisis in the rural areas of developing countries is increasingly becoming an important cause of cross-border migration of population and South Asia is no exception to this phenomenon. S...

by | On 22 Aug 2016

Combating Haze: Holding One’s Breath A Year On

Indonesia’s efforts to combat forest fires have thus far shown some signs of progress. Doubts over Indonesia’s commitment and the effectiveness of its measures however seem to remain.

by | On 19 Aug 2016

Diversity in Donorship: The Changing Landscape of Official Humanitarian Aid

The lead agency in India’s assistance strategy is the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The MEA is directly responsible for assistance to Bhutan, Nepal and Afghanistan, and advises the Department of...

by | On 19 Aug 2016

The Consequences of Spatially Differentiated Water Pollution Regulation in China

China’s environmental regulators have sought to reduce the Yangtze River’s water pollution. This paper documents that this regulatory effort has had two unintended consequences. First, the regulation’...

by Zhao Chen | On 18 Aug 2016

Feeding Climate Change: What the Paris Agreement Means for Food and Beverage Companies

This paper presents new data commissioned from the research consultancy CE Delft on the greenhouse gas emissions footprints and water scarcity footprints of major food commodities. The data demonstrat...

by Oxfam International | On 16 Aug 2016

Level versus Variability Trade-Offs in Wind and Solar Generation Investments: The Case of California

Hourly plant-level wind and solar generation output and real-time price data for one year from the California ISO control area is used to estimate the vector of means and the contemporaneous covarianc...

by | On 12 Aug 2016

Introduction to Water Resources

Water resources have increasingly come under pressure of late due to competing and ever increasing demands from different sectors. What is often said that future wars will be fought for water, seems...

by P.K. Chatterjee | On 10 Aug 2016

Citizenship and Displacement

Landscapes of persons who constitute the shifting world in which we live: tourists, immigrants, refugees, guest workers and other moving groups and persons constitute the essential feature of the worl...

by | On 09 Aug 2016

Social Development of SIDS, Health and NCDs, Youth and Women

SIDS underscore social development as one of the three dimensions of sustainable development key to ensuring results are achieved for most vulnerable and disadvantaged. Small island developing states...

by UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs UNDESA | On 09 Aug 2016

The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2016

The agenda is a road map for people that will build on the success of the Millennium Development Goals and ensure sustainable social and economic progress worldwide. It seeks not only to eradicate ex...

by United Nations (UN) | On 20 Jul 2016

Child Trafficking in India

Reports of raids in factories and workshops and rescue of children from different cities of the country appear with unfailing regularity. Children from disparate geographical regions: West Bengal, Bih...

by Enakshi Ganguly Thukral | On 20 Jul 2016

A More Sustainable Energy Strategy for India

This paper analyses what is possible as a low carbon scenario for India using India Energy Security Scenarios-2047 tool developed by the erstwhile Planning Commission and later refined by its successo...

by Montek Ahluwalia | On 19 Jul 2016

Status of Water Availability for Agriculture in India

As of July 7, 2016, rainfall in the country in the 2016 monsoon season is estimated to be 1% above normal rainfall. However, due to deficient rainfall in the country resulting in drought conditions ov...

by Tanvi Deshpande | On 18 Jul 2016

Projecting Progress: The SDGs in Asia-Pacific

This paper presents Asia-Pacific’s likely progress across the Sustainable Development Goals agenda, if trends continue on their current trajectories. Some Asian countries have been the world’s top per...

by | On 07 Jul 2016

Guidelines For Improving Water Use Efficiency in Irrigation, Domestic & Industrial Sectors

There is a need for a paradigm shift in approach from development to efficient management by making concerted efforts to achieve higher standards of efficiency in water use in all the three sectors....

by Ministry of Water Resources GOI | On 04 Jul 2016

Irrigation Water Management for Food Security in India: The Forgotten Realities

India’s water crisis is often perceived to have been perpetuated by the widening gap between the utilizable water resources and the aggregate demand for water in agriculture and other sectors in certa...

by | On 04 Jul 2016

The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity India Initiative

India’s National Environment Policy stresses that the most secure basis for protection of nature is to ensure that people dependent on natural resources obtain better livelihoods through conservation...

by Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Chang GOI | On 01 Jul 2016

Feasibility of Incentive Based Environmental Instruments in State and Central Taxation Regimes

Taxation policies in India have historically not been environmentally oriented. A tax system is needed whic is environmentally more rational. It is argued in this study that India is currently going...

by D K Srivastava | On 01 Jul 2016

Is Marketing a Science: Debate Revisited

The study conducts a formal analysis of various schools of thought of science. Specifically, the study offers a comparison between historical relativism, scientific realism, logical empiricism, and lo...

by Dheeraj Sharma | On 01 Jul 2016

Climate Change Risks and Opportunities in Uttarakhand, India

The Climate Knowledge and Development Network supported a Vulnerability and Risk Assessment process in Uttarakhand to provide the Government of Uttarakhand with the evidence base to refine and priorit...

by Climate and Development Knowledge Network CDKN | On 30 Jun 2016

Water Resource Management and Sustainable Development

All living beings on earth need water for their daily life. As it is becoming scarce and the demand is increasing proper management of water is needed.

by Aakriti Singh | On 30 Jun 2016

Decentralisation and Interventions in Health Sector: A Critical Inquiry into the Experience of Local Self Governments in Kerala

This paper attempts to analyse the transition in the healthcare sector during the last two decades linking it to the interventions of Local Self Governments (LSGs). It was found that decentralisation...

by | On 29 Jun 2016

The Intimate Link between Income Levels and Life Expectancy: Global Evidence from 213 Years

The paper finds a systematic and economically sizeable relationship between income levels and life expectancy in a panel dataset of 197 countries over 213 years. By itself, GDP/capita explains more th...

by Michael Jetter | On 28 Jun 2016

Is Partisan Alignment Electorally Rewarding? Evidence from Village Council Elections in India

Do ruling parties positively discriminate in favour of their own constituencies in allocating public resources? If they do, do they gain electorally in engaging in such a practice? This paper tests wh...

by Subhasish Dey | On 27 Jun 2016

Can Labor Market Imperfections Explain Changes in the Inverse Farm Size–Productivity Relationship? Longitudinal Evidence from Rural India

The existence of an inverse relationship between farm size and output per unit of land is well documented. However, little research focuses on if and how an inverse relationship between farm size and...

by Klaus Deininger | On 27 Jun 2016

Water Scarcity and Food Security

The water crisis already looming large will therefore quite probably trigger significant shortfalls in cereal production and, as a result, a massive global food crisis. But before that the dearth of p...

by | On 24 Jun 2016

Draft National Forest Policy, 2016

There was a felt to revise the National Forest Policy, 1988 to integrate the vision of sustainable forest management based on the principles of ecosystem approach, landscape level planning and the...

by Indian Institute of Forest Management IIFM | On 21 Jun 2016

Innovative Water Management Technologies for Food Security and Poverty Alleviation

Agriculture is central to food security and economic growth in developing countries and provides the main source of livelihood for three out of four of the world’s poor. But food production requires s...

by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development UNCTAD | On 20 Jun 2016

An Analysis of Perceptions of Domestic Violence and Efficacy of the Implementation of the PWDV Act (2005) in Bihar

The present study has been conducted in the rural and urban areas of 9 districts of 9 commissionaries in Bihar. A random sample of 375 families is drawn from different socio-economic backgrounds. The...

by CARE India | On 20 Jun 2016

Baseline Water Stress: China

This technical note describes the data and methodology used to calculate BWS-China, building on the methodology described in previous Aqueduct publications (Shiklomanov and Rodda 2014; Gassert et a...

by Jiao Wang | On 20 Jun 2016

A Joined-Up Approach to Delivering the Global Goals for Sustainable Development

The sustainable management and restoration of our landscapes – achieving land degradation neutrality - will deliver many co-benefits. From biodiversity conservation and combating climate change to ens...

by | On 17 Jun 2016

Elucidation of the Fifth National Report on Convention to Combat Desertification

This document covers the initiatives and contributions of Government of India, Science and Technology Institutions and Civil Society Organisations in addressing the issues of desertification, land de...

by Ministry of Environment and Forests GOI | On 17 Jun 2016

Desertification and Land Degradation: Atlas of India

Land degradation and desertification pose an ever - increasing global environmental threat. Human activities such as over cultivation, overgrazing, deforestation and poor irrigation practices, along...

by Indian Space Research Organisation ISRO | On 17 Jun 2016

Urban Water Systems in India: A Way Forward

This paper provides a new presentation of the urban water problem and offers a set of solutions that are sustainable, both in ecological and financial terms, and seek to tackle the deep inequities in...

by Mihir Shah | On 16 Jun 2016

How to Encourage Farmers to Adapt to Climate Change?

This study is an attempt to use group information collected from different farmers (e.g.marginal, small, and medium farmers and tenants) in eastern Uttar Pradesh in India to address a question relevan...

by Amarnath Tripathi | On 16 Jun 2016

Ministry of Finance and Planning Annual Report 2010

This paper contains the annual report 2010 of Ministry of Finance and Planning, Government of Sri Lanka.

by Ministry of Finance and Planning, Govt of Sri Lanka | On 15 Jun 2016

Groundwater Modeling for Sustainable Aquifer Management in a River Island of Eastern India

This paper details the study on development of groundwater flow simulation model in a river basin by using a physically based model Visual MODFLOW has been done in order to understand the dynamics of...

by Ashwani Kumar | On 13 Jun 2016

Guidelines for Construction of Anganwadi Centers Under MGNREGS in Convergence with ICDS Scheme of the Ministry of Women and Child Development

The article gives the guidelines for setting up the Anganwadi centres under the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS). The Government is committed to repositioning the Anganwadi Centre (AWC) as “...

by Ministry of Rural Development GoI | On 10 Jun 2016

Defending the Commons, Territories and the Right to Food and Water

Almost a billion people around the world are now suffering from hunger and malnutrition - a dramatic rise in number since the soaring food prices over the last three years. Of these, about half ar...

by Focus on the Global South FGS | On 10 Jun 2016

The Wealth of Waste: The Economics of Wastewater Use in Agriculture

This Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) water report presents an economic framework for the assessment of the use of reclaimed water in agriculture, as part of a comprehensive planning process in...

by Food and Agricultural Organization [FAO] | On 07 Jun 2016

Building the Foundations for Sustainable Nutrient Management

The report details how rising CO2 emissions are altering the chemical balance of our oceans and outlines the wide-ranging consequences of this emerging issue on marine food chains and ecosystems as we...

by United Nations Environment Programme UNEP | On 07 Jun 2016

Global Action on Climate Change in Agriculture: Linkages to Food Security, Markets and Trade Policies in Developing Countries

The objective of this report is to catalyse thinking about the ways in which agriculture – which has a vital role in global food security, development and natural resources use – can and must be fully...

by Aziz Elbehri | On 06 Jun 2016

Water: Facts and Trends

This working document provides an overview of some basic facts and societal challenges related to water. The emphasis in this initial document is on water availability and people’s use of water for ag...

by | On 06 Jun 2016

UNEP Year Book: Emerging Issues in Our Global Environment

The UNEP Year Book 2012 examines emerging environmental issues and policy-relevant developments, while providing an overview of the latest trends based on key environmental indicators. It spotlights...

by United Nations Environment Programme UNEP | On 02 Jun 2016

Measuring Water use in a Green Economy

This report by the UNEP-hosted International Resource Panel marks a serious and critical analysis of the way societies are managing water supplies including how those supplies are allocated across sec...

by | On 02 Jun 2016

Environmental Roles of Agriculture in India

The environmental impacts generated by agricultural activity could be global or regional or national or local. However, they are site-specific and tend to vary with farming systems, technologies used...

by | On 01 Jun 2016

Climate Change in Madhya Pradesh: Indicators, Impacts and Adaptation

Climate variability and climate change pose an enormous pressure on population, infrastructure, livelihood, and socio-economic conditions. Evidences of climate change are already visible on many secto...

by Vimal Mishra | On 30 May 2016

Gender Wage Gaps among Regular Employed Persons

The gender wage gaps in Indian states and the wage gaps among educated people are shown.

by Lakshmi Priya | On 27 May 2016

The Role of Small and Medium Enterprises in Structural Transformation and Economic Development

The study directs the attention to the role of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in overcoming these structural rigidities and ushering-in structural transformation in an economy. To explore the iss...

by Mausumi Das | On 26 May 2016

Poverty in Cambodia - A New Approach: Redefining the Poverty Line

This report presents the results of the new approach to measuring poverty and standards of living, which the Royal Government of Cambodia initiated and carried out through 2011-2012.

by | On 25 May 2016

Organised Forest-Farm Producers Mitigate Climate Change Through Adaptive Resilience

Climate mitigation programmes and finance mechanisms like Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) must engage millions of forest farmers if they are to halt deforestation...

by Jeffrey Campbell | On 25 May 2016

Food vs Forests in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Challenge for the SDGs

Domestic food supply in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) will need to triple in the next 35 years. But SSA countries have also committed to reducing or halting deforestation. The tripling of food supply canno...

by Xiaoting Jones | On 25 May 2016

Degradation and Loss of Peri-Urban Ecosystems

Rapid degradation of peri-urban ecosystems is resulting in a loss of associated ecosystem services. Water provision, storm- and waste-water regulation, along with protection from natural disasters and...

by Rockeffeller Foundation RF | On 25 May 2016

Coastal Road and Mumbai's Development Plan (2014–2034)

Coastal Road and Mumbai's Development Plan (2014–2034), video interview with Shweta Wagh, urban conservationist. Filmed for Hamara Shehar Vikas Niyojan, Mumbai

by | On 20 May 2016

Women, Energy and Water in the Himalayas: Integration of Women in Planning and Management

The policy guidelines were developed as part of the pilot project 'Incorporating Needs and Roles of Women in Water and Energy Management in Rural Areas in South Asia-Capacity Building in Rural Areas o...

by | On 18 May 2016

Rainwater Harvesting: A Lifeline for Human Well-Being

This publication highlights the link between rainwater harvesting, ecosystems and human wellbeing and draws the attention of readers to both the negative and positive aspects of using this technology...

by | On 18 May 2016

More Than a Lightbulb: Five Recommendations to Make Modern Energy Access Meaningful for People and Prosperity

"Modern energy access” is finally on the international agenda, but the current common definition of 100 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per capita per year is far too low. To reflect likely demand and historica...

by Todd Moss | On 18 May 2016

Biodiversity for Sustainable Development: Delivering Results for Asia and the Pacific

The aim is to develop capacity at the individual, institutional and systemic levels to identify and implement new options for effective democratic governance for biodiversity and ecosystem management...

by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) | On 18 May 2016

Biodiversity and Sustainable Development: A Critical Analysis

Solving the problem of environmental threats and a dwindling biodiversity has been on the international agenda for some decades now. The formulation of environmental questions, however, is changing sl...

by | On 18 May 2016

Biodiversity: Importance and Climate Change Impacts

Biodiversity is the variability among living organisms, including genetic and structural difference between individual and within and between individual and within and between species. Biodiversity pl...

by | On 18 May 2016

Know the Biological Diversity Act (2002) and the Rules (2004) Better!

The Act covers conservation, use of biological resources and associated knowledge occurring in India for commercial or research purposes or for the purposes of bio-survey and bio-utilisation. It prov...

by National Biodiversity Authority NBA | On 17 May 2016

Game Theoretical Approach to Regulate the Public-Owned River Water Utilities: A Case Study of Cauvery River

Management of regulated water systems has become increasingly complex due to rapid socio-economic growth and environmental changes in river basins over recent decades. This paper focusses on the publ...

by Zareena Begum Irfan | On 17 May 2016

Where All the Water Has Gone? An Analysis of Unreliable Water Supply in Bangalore City

The demand for urban water supply service is increasing rapidly as globalisation accelerates economic development and brings improvements in living standards in India with the interactive effects of...

by | On 12 May 2016

Water Rights in India and Water Sector Reforms in Andhra Pradesh

Water rights in India in a formal, legal manner are still under formulation. Rights based on centuries old customs and conventions currently prevail. In recent years, reforms have sought to introduce...

by | On 12 May 2016

The Global Risks Report 2016: 11th Edition

Now in its 11th edition, The Global Risks Report 2016 draws attention to ways that global risks could evolve and interact in the next decade. The year 2016 marks a forceful departure from past finding...

by [WEF] World Economic Forum | On 11 May 2016

High and Dry : Climate Change, Water, and the Economy

The impacts of climate change will be channeled primarily through the water cycle, with consequences that could be large and uneven across the globe. Water-related climate risks cascade through food,...

by World Bank [WB] | On 11 May 2016

Multiple Impacts of Droughts and Assessment of Drought Policy in Major Drought Prone States in India

This study is a result of initiatives taken by the Planning Commission, Government of India, to investigate the multiple impact of drought in one of the India’s drought-prone states i.e. Gujarat. Drou...

by Anil Kumar Roy | On 11 May 2016

Air Pollution in Delhi: Air Quality Index - Public Awareness Tool

The air pollution in Delhi is shown and how the air quality index is calculated and the health impacts are shown here.

by J.K. Bassin | On 11 May 2016

Time is Running Out: Does Mumbai have Enough Water?

Mumbai has the potential to become one of the world’s ideal cities in terms of sustainable water management. With abundant natural and perennial water sources around it, the megacity is currently one...

by Dhaval D Desai | On 10 May 2016

Quality Control in Non-Staple Food Markets: Evidence from India

Using original data collected about growers, traders, processors, markets, and village communities, the situation in four states – Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Orissa is compared. The w...

by Marcel Fafchamps | On 06 May 2016

Economic Incentives for the Conservation of Bharathapuzha River: Focus on Sand Mining

Rivers in Kerala are assailed by pollution, sedimentation, sand mining, and constriction of flows. The indiscriminate and unscientific sand mining, even in the midst of many regulatory and protective...

by Lakshmi Sreedhar | On 04 May 2016

Educational Attainment of Young Adults in India: Measures, Trends & Determinants

Given the fact that education of young adults plays crucial role from both economic and social point of view, the objective of the study is to analyse the pattern of improvements in their education an...

by Runu Bhakta | On 02 May 2016

Employment Structure and Rural-Urban Migration in a Tamil Nadu Village: Focusing on Differences by Economic Class

Since the mid-1990s, migration of workforces from rural to urban areas has accelerated in south India accompanied by remarkable urban-based economic development. To investigate the nature of such rura...

by Keiko Sato | On 29 Apr 2016

Land, Labour and Caste Politics in Rural Tamil Nadu in the 20th Century: Iruvelpattu (1916-2008)

The “Slater” villages of Tamil Nadu that were first surveyed by the University of Madras economist, Gilbert Slater, and his students in 1916, were resurveyed in the 1930s, 1960s and the 1980s. This pa...

by John Harriss | On 27 Apr 2016

The Patents Rules, 2003

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has published The Patents Rules, 2003. Some of the salient features of the Draft amendments Rules are: Term of every patent which is in force including a patent r...

by Ministry of Commerce and Industry GOI | On 27 Apr 2016

Water and Agriculture: Facing Water Scarcity and Environmental Challenges

Agricultural water use is the main one among all water uses. Despite this use plays an essential role in food and fiber world supplies, provides for mitigating poverty in many regions, and produces a...

by Luis Santos Pereira | On 13 Apr 2016

Coping with Water Scarcity: An Action Framework for Agriculture and Food Security

This report develops around the conceptual framework to address food security under conditions of water scarcity is part of this programme. The purpose of this report is to assess the options and scop...

by Pasquale Steduto | On 13 Apr 2016

International Food Security Assessment, 2015-2025

Food security in the 76 low- and middle-income countries included in this report is expected to improve between 2014 and 2015. These countries are low- and middle-income countries as classified by the...

by Anthony Murray | On 12 Apr 2016

Report of the Commission on Farmers’ Welfare, Government of Andhra Pradesh

Agriculture in Andhra Pradesh is in an advanced stage of crisis. While this is a generalised rural crisis, the burden has fallen disproportionately on small and marginal farmers, tenant farmers and ru...

by Government Andhra Pradesh | On 12 Apr 2016

Multidimensional Measurement of Household Water Poverty in a Mumbai Slum: Looking Beyond Water Quality

In addition to negatively affecting health, the qualitative findings reveal that water service delivery failures have a constellation of other adverse life impacts—on household economy, employment,...

by Ramnath Subbaraman | On 12 Apr 2016

Role of National Food Security Mission (NFSM) in Improving Agricultural Productivity in Selected Districts

A study was undertaken by the Council for Social Development with the sponsorship of Planning Commission, Government of India with the following specific objectives to analyse the impact of NFSM initi...

by Ankita Goyal | On 05 Apr 2016

Education in India: NSS 71st Round

The report gives a detailed account of the education system in India.

by Ministry of Statistics and Prog Implementation (MOSPI) | On 05 Apr 2016

Global Report on Urban health: Equitable, Healthier Cities for Sustainable Development

The Global report on urban health: equitable, healthier cities for sustainable development, 2016 presents new data on the health of urban residents from nearly 100 countries, updating the first joint...

by World Health Organisation (WHO) | On 04 Apr 2016

Global Food Policy Report 2016

IFPRI’s Flagship Report puts into perspective the major food policy issues, developments, and decisions of 2015 and highlights challenges and opportunities for 2016. This year’s report takes an in-dep...

by International Food Policy Research Institute | On 04 Apr 2016

Bharat Mata ki jal

The total quantum of water supply has barely improved since Independence, while demand has exploded.

by T.N. Ninan | On 27 Mar 2016

Can Iron-Fortified Salt Control Anemia? Evidence from Two Experiments in Rural Bihar

This paper reports on the impact of a potential strategy to address iron deficiency anemia in rural areas: double fortified salt (DFS) — salt fortified with iron and iodine. They conducted a large-sc...

by Abhijit Banerjee | On 23 Mar 2016

Towards Drinking Water Security in India: Lessons from the Field

With the help of Water and Sanitation Program (WSP), the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation has collected some models of good practices from different parts of the country. Care has been ta...

by Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation MDWS | On 22 Mar 2016

Structural Change, Economic Growth and Trade: Case for Regional Reallocation of Investment in India

The economic structure and rates of growth across the states in India are markedly different, with significant disparities in income per capita growth as well as sector-specific performance. The high-...

by Alokesh Barua | On 21 Mar 2016

The Conceit of Reason the Cunning of History versus - Modernity and Caste in India

This paper addresses the central question as to how and why caste still survives under conditions of democracy and modernity and what do we make of it. I try to explain this phenomenon by viewing it i...

by Sanjeeb Mukherjee | On 21 Mar 2016

Water Reallocation and Grabbing Processes, Mechanisms and Contributory Factors

The paper attempts to develop a project life-cycle approach to gain insights into the complexities of water reallocation. The paper is able to show that water reallocation and the resultant phenomeno...

by Subodh Wagle | On 21 Mar 2016

India-Bangladesh Relations: Moving towards Friendship

India-Bangladesh relations are advancing rapidly in recent times. There are of course some impediments such as non-tariff barriers (NTBs) in trade, and the Teesta water-sharing dispute that need to be...

by Chandrani Sarma | On 21 Mar 2016

Linkages between Dispersed Urbanisation and Rural Industrialisation: A Case Study from West Bengal

In some poor parts of the world, rural areas are known as pastoral folk; for their heavily dependence on agricultural activities; and for having poor infrastructure, limited employment opportunities a...

by Subrata Dutta | On 20 Mar 2016

Rural-Urban Linkages and Socio-Economic Development: A Case Study Of Two Villages In Gujarat

Rural-urban linkages are both a cause and a consequence of socio-economic development. Though there is a vast volume of literature on this subject, there are quite a few gaps in our knowledge about th...

by RS Pundir | On 20 Mar 2016

Changing Wage Structure in India in the Post-Reform Era

This paper documents the changing structure of wages in India over the post-reform era, the roughly two-decade period since 1993. To investigate the factors underlying these changes, a supply-demand f...

by Basab Dasgupta | On 20 Mar 2016

Metaguidelines for Water and Climate Change For practitioners in Asia and the Pacific

The Metaguidelines for Water and Climate Change were developed by the Asia–Pacific Water Forum (APWF) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) in collaboration with the Global Water Partnership (GWP). This pu...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 15 Mar 2016

Gender mainstreaming Case Study - North East Coastal Community Development Project and Tsunami Affected Areas Rebuilding Project

This case study covers two related projects funded by the Asian Development Bank: the North East Coastal Community Development Project (NECCDP), which aimed to improve sustainable livelihood and natur...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 15 Mar 2016

Reviving Lakes and Wetlands in the People's Republic of China, Volume 2 - Lessons Learned on Integrated Water Pollution Control from Chao Lake Basin

The government has taken unprecedented steps to create a basic framework to achieve its long-term objective of improving water quality in Chao Lake and protecting and maintaining all of its economic,...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 15 Mar 2016

Winners and Losers in the Arab Awakening

On January 25, 2012, one year has passed since the protests began on Cairo’s Tahrir Square. Events in the Middle East and North Africa over the past year have altered many previously held beliefs abou...

by | On 14 Mar 2016

Water Scarcity and the Role of Storage in Development

In this paper, the authors concentrate on the three kinds of technologies that store water for periods of months, in small reservoirs, or years, in aquifers and large reservoirs. These three technolog...

by Andrew Keller | On 14 Mar 2016

Arsenic Contamination in Water: A Conceptual Framework of Policy Options

Arsenic contamination in water supplies continues to increase in many countries, especially in developing nations, thereby creating both environmental and health hazard. Its sources and effects are mu...

by Zareena Begum Irfan | On 13 Mar 2016

New Dawn or False Hope for the Korean Peninsula?

After conditions of crisis reigning on the Korean Peninsula in the first half of the year, the reopening of the Kaesong Industrial Complex, among other recent developments, heralds renewed hope for be...

by | On 12 Mar 2016

Rape and Reform: India's Changing Attitudes

It has been just over a year since the Delhi rape case in which a female student was raped and died from her injuries. In its wake, massive protests and a media campaign ensured the perpetrators were...

by | On 12 Mar 2016

Tallying the Hidden Environmental Costs of Drug Production

Drug production is a significant factor in widespread environmental degradation, yet a lack of reliable data makes it difficult to pinpoint the extent of this damage. Future research should be directe...

by | On 12 Mar 2016

Rethinking National Security: China's New Security Commission

The newly established Central National Security Commission (CNSC) of China held its first meeting on April 15. The inaugural meeting of this body marks a significant milestone in the reorganization of...

by | On 12 Mar 2016

Analyzing the Water Footprint of Indian Dairy Industry

Water footprint is a multidimensional indicator, showing water consumption volumes by source and by type of pollution; all components of a total water footprint are specified geographically and tempor...

by Zareena Begum Irfan | On 11 Mar 2016

Investigating Household Preferences for Restoring Pallikaranai Marsh

The study examines households’ willingness to pay for the conservation of Pallinkaranai marsh located in the south of Chennai, Tamil Nadu. A stated preference method, namely, Contingent Valuation m...

by Suganya Balakumar | On 10 Mar 2016

Female Headed Households And Poverty: Analysis Using Household Level Data

The relationship between gender and poverty is a complex and debatable topic more than ever and thus a potential area for policy makers to focus. The aim of this paper is to review existing literature...

by Sukanya Das | On 10 Mar 2016

Anchoring Indo-Japanese Maritime Relations

Ensuring security of energy supplies and safeguarding sea lines of communication are underpinning increasing maritime ties between the net-energy importers of India and Japan. At the same time, argues...

by | On 10 Mar 2016

Determinants of Child Health: An Empirical Analysis

Infant and child mortality rates in India have fallen by almost half from the time of adoption of millennium development goals to 2012 but there has not been a concurrent decrease in morbidity and und...

by Sowmya Dhanaraj | On 10 Mar 2016

Poverty Reduction in Pakistan: Learning from the Experience of China

Three major objectives of this study are: (i) to understand China’s success against poverty, particularly the mechanism through which, the economic reforms led to poverty reduction; (ii) to give a his...

by G. M. Arif | On 10 Mar 2016

Imagined Futures:Fictionality in Economic Action

Starting from the assumption that decision situations in economic contexts are characterized by fundamental uncertainty, the paper argues that the decision-making of intentionally rational actors is a...

by Jens Beckert | On 09 Mar 2016

On the Allocation of Public Goods to Villages in India

The paper tries to analyse the effect of religious composition on the provision of public services captured mainly by infrastructure index, of four types, (i) basic amenities such as water, housing an...

by Santanu Gupta | On 09 Mar 2016

Agricultural Growth and Decomposition of Crop Output in Gujarat: Recent Trends

The growth story of Gujarat’s agriculture has received significant recognition (with around 10 percent growth rate in recent years) and is often being hailed as a role model for other states to follow...

by Itishree Patnaik | On 09 Mar 2016

Class Gains in Fisheries Management in India: Reflections from Two States

The debate on common property resource centres on issues of a particular strategy for managing it in order to cater to the growing demand for communities that depend on it and the economy at large tha...

by Jharna Pathak | On 09 Mar 2016

On History and Policy: Time in the Age of Neoliberalism

It is often said that history matters, but these words are often little more than a hollow statement. In the aftermath of the Great Recession, the view that the economy is a mechanical toy that can be...

by | On 08 Mar 2016

Bringing Power Back In: A Review of the Literature on the Role of Business in Welfare State Politics

What is the impact of business interest groups on the formulation of public social policies? This paper reviews the literature in political science, history, and sociology on this question. It identif...

by | On 08 Mar 2016

The Responsibility to Protect in Southeast Asia: Issues and Challenges

The doctrine of the Responsibility to Protect is a controversial and contentious one in Southeast Asia. It has been largely accepted in principle by most ASEAN states, which are generally supportive o...

by S. Rajaratnam International Studies | On 06 Mar 2016

Linking mobility, human trafficking and Infectious Disease

Current studies on pandemics explore the links between population mobility and health. These studies usually focus on regular population movement such as those of tourists and legal immigrants. Howeve...

by S. Rajaratnam International Studies | On 06 Mar 2016

Measuring Women’s Disempowerment in Agriculture in Pakistan

This paper calculates a Women’s Disempowerment Index to examine women’s control over production, resources, income, household decisions, and time burden. The index is based on a slightly modified me...

by Nuzhat Ahmad | On 04 Mar 2016

Human Factors Determine Extreme Weather Impact

The beginning of 2011 was marked by a series of rain-related disasters in various parts of the globe. Australia experienced one of the most severe (and most probably the costliest) wave of floods in i...

by S. Rajaratnam International Studies | On 03 Mar 2016

Recognising the Economic Relationship between Sex Workers and Sex Businesses

This NTS Alert discusses the economic relationship between sex workers and sex businesses in Southeast Asia in order to critically examine hitherto narrow interpretations which posit an integral link...

by Manpavan Kaur | On 03 Mar 2016

Where and How Are Roads Endangering Mammals in Southeast Asia’s Forests?

Habitat destruction and overhunting are two major drivers of mammal population declines and extinctions in tropical forests. The construction of roads can be a catalyst for these two threats. In South...

by Gopalasamy Reuben Clements | On 03 Mar 2016

Economic and Environmental Impacts of Harmful Non-Indigenous Species in Southeast Asia

Harmful non-indigenous species (NIS) impose great economic and environmental impacts globally, but little is known about their impacts in Southeast Asia. Lack of knowledge of the magnitude of the pro...

by Le T. P Nghiem | On 03 Mar 2016

The Role of DNA Barcodes in Understanding and Conservation of Mammal Diversity in Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia is recognized as a region of very high biodiversity, much of which is currently at risk due to habitat loss and other threats. However, many aspects of this diversity, even for relativ...

by | On 03 Mar 2016

Economic and Political Relations Between Bhutan and Neighbouring Countries

The diversification of Bhutan’s relations began with its entry into the United Nations in 1971, and while external relations continued to be largely confined to India, the establishment of its relatio...

by | On 02 Mar 2016

Connecting the Dots: An Analysis of Union Budget 2016-17

It presents a comprehensive analysis of the priorities and proposals in Union Budget 2016-17, focusing on social sectors (such as education, health, drinking water and sanitation, food security etc.)...

by Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability CBGA | On 02 Mar 2016

Financing Social Policy in the Presence of Informality

We present a framework for the analysis of tax and benefit policy in countries with significant informality. Our framework allows us to jointly analyse the e!ects of various taxes and benefits on ince...

by Ehtisham Ahmad | On 01 Mar 2016

Environment And The Aging Experience Among South Indian Hunter-Gatherers

There has been much discussion on aging and peoples’ concerns for old age. However, few studies have been done on the aging experience from an emic perspective. This geroanthropological paper makes an...

by Seetha Kakkoth | On 01 Mar 2016

Developments in education in Palanpur, a village in Uttar Pradesh

This paper examines developments in literacy and education in Palanpur. We consider schooling facilities and other related services available in this village and its neighbourhood. Schooling levels ar...

by Ruth Kattumuri | On 01 Mar 2016

An Enquiry Into Migration and Homelessness - A Developmental Discourse: Evidence From Mumbai City

Existence of structural and social inequality with growing poverty and shrinking livelihoods and other factors forced to people or entire families to migrate towards cities in search of means of survi...

by | On 01 Mar 2016

Non-Farm Diversification and Rural Poverty Decline: A Perspective from Indian Sample Survey and Village Study Data

This paper studies the evolution of the rural non-farm sector in India and its contribution to the decline of poverty. It scrutinizes evidence from a series of nationally representative sample surveys...

by Himanshu Prof | On 29 Feb 2016

India and an Indian village: 50 years of economic development in Palanpur

The analysis of the paper begins in the next section by setting out broad economic changes in India as key context for change in Palanpur, with a particular focus on the three drivers set out above; s...

by Himanshu Prof | On 29 Feb 2016

Pakistan, the United States and the IMF: Great game or a curious case of Dutch Disease without the oil?

A history of Pakistan’s relations with the IMF (and the Bretton Woods Institutions in general) 2 cannot be told without reference to the complex and changing role played by the United States, es...

by Ehtisham Ahmad | On 29 Feb 2016

Adverse Impacts Of Climate Change On Development Of Bhutan: Integrating Adaption Into Policies And Activities

From the existing development plans and vulnerability assessment report it is found that adverse effects of climate change including variability and natural disaster has a significant implication on t...

by | On 29 Feb 2016

The Future of Australia's Productivity: Some Insights from Productivity Analysis

The Productivity Commission program of studies on the productivity of different sectors — to date, Mining, Electricity, gas and water, and Manufacturing — provide some insight into what lies behind th...

by Jenny Gordon | On 29 Feb 2016

Diet and Nutritional Status of Population and Prevalence of Hypertension Among Adults in Rural Areas

The study highlights the need for implementation of developmental programmes in the tribal areas for the overall improvement of nutritional status of the community. There is also a need to carryout in...

by National Institute of Nutrition | On 29 Feb 2016

Prevalence of Vitamin D Deficiency Among preschool Children in Rural Areas

The objective of this paper is to assess the prevalence of clinical forms of vitamin A deficiency (particularly Bitot spots) among the pre-school children in the rural areas of the States covered by N...

by National Institute of Nutrition | On 29 Feb 2016

Diet and Nutritional Status of Rural Population

Several sporadic studies carried out in the developing countries, including India have been reporting a steady increase in the prevalence of diet related chronic diseases like obesity, hypertension, d...

by National Institute of Nutrition | On 29 Feb 2016

Combating Low Birth Weight and Intra - Uterine Growth Retardation

Low birth weight is a major public health problem in India. About 30% of all infants born in hospitals are reported to weigh less than 2.5 kg at birth. Studies carried out by ICMR in the late seventie...

by Sarath Gopalan | On 29 Feb 2016

New Issues in Human Security: Energy-Climate-Water-Food Nexus

Today, millions of people experience insecurity as a result of new and complex issues threatening human welfare and dignity, such as climate change and the contested or inefficient use of energy and w...

by S. Rajaratnam International Studies | On 27 Feb 2016

Water Security in Southeast Asia: Moving beyond Basic Access

Water security is a cross-cutting and multidimensional developmental issue which was nestled within Goal 7 of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on environmental sustainability. Target 7c of Goal...

by S. Rajaratnam International Studies | On 27 Feb 2016

Land Reform and Changes in Land Ownership Concentration: Evidence from Rice-Growing Villages

This paper examines the effect of land reform and land transfer actions of farmer beneficiaries on land ownership concentration. A case study of two rice-growing villages was used to track down owners...

by Marife M. Ballesteros | On 25 Feb 2016

Prospects of Wheat and Sugar Trade between India and Pakistan: A Simple Welfare Analysis

Due to a long history of strained political relations between India and Pakistan, trade possibilities between the two neighbouring countries have rarely been studied [Nabi and Nasim (2001), Mukherji (...

by Abid Burki | On 24 Feb 2016

Recent Trends in China’s Trade

Who would have thought thirty years ago China could become one of the world’s most influential trading nations? At that time the Chinese government was reluctant to open up its door for foreigners and...

by Alice Wang | On 24 Feb 2016

Lifting the Lid Off Xinjiang’s Insecurities

The recent riots and attacks in China’s western province of Xinjiang have brought to the forefront the long simmering tensions between the Han Chinese and Uyghur communities. What have often been capt...

by | On 24 Feb 2016

The US and China: Dangers of Premature Extrapolation

Many commentators assume that China will become the next world superpower. This may be a premature assessment. As Judo players know, size can be a weakness rather than a strength. It is the spirit of...

by | On 24 Feb 2016

Operationalising Regimes and Recognising Actors: Responding to Crises in Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia as a region has a unique history, and the evolving relationships between its communities, states, regional organisations and the international community reflect this. Given this context...

by Alistair Cook | On 24 Feb 2016

Gajah Securing the Future for the Elephants in India

Despite best efforts of the government, the society and the people at large, elephant conservation still remains an uphill task. This report makes a number of useful recommendations for institutionali...

by Ministry of Environment and Forests | On 24 Feb 2016

Critically Endangered Animal Species of India

India has a staggering variety of flora and fauna, including some of the rarest species in existence on the planet. There is so far a paucity of information for the general public on the status, biolo...

by Ministry of Environment and Forests | On 24 Feb 2016

Towards Transparency and Good Governance

Transparency has been put in processes, changed many rules for protection of environment and we have started taking decisions that are based on policies. The cases that fall within the policy framewor...

by Ministry of Environment and Forests | On 24 Feb 2016

India’s Fifth National Report to the Convention on Biological Diversity 2014

The country's biodiversity faces a variety of threats, ranging from land use changes in natural habitats to overexploitation of natural resources, proliferation of invasive species and climate change....

by Ministry of Environment and Forest | On 24 Feb 2016

Forest – Based Bamboo Trade in Mendha Lekha and Jamguda

This paper documents two different models that can be adopted by tribal villages for forest-based bamboo trade under the ambit of the FRA, 2006.

by Centre for Civil Society CCS | On 24 Feb 2016

Compensating the Loss of Ecosystem Services Due to Pollution in Noyyal River Basin, Tamil Nadu

The loss of ecosystem services due to industrial pollution in the Noyyal River Basin was estimated through physical research studies of water and soil quality and bio-mapping followed by economic valu...

by Paul Appasamy | On 23 Feb 2016

Financial Institutions and Structures for Growth in East Asia

The paper examines the changing size, shape and range of financial markets in the region indicates the extent to which regional markets have become more efficient and have improved in quality since th...

by Jenny Corbett | On 23 Feb 2016

Facing Food Shortages: Urban Food Security in an Age of Constraints

Seventy per cent of the world’s population are expected to live in urban areas by 2050. Food production to feed this larger, more urban and richer population will have to be done in the face of changi...

by | On 23 Feb 2016

Up in Smoke: Peatland Fires in Russia and Indonesia

Russia’s peatland fires, like those in Indonesia, have been triggered by high global temperatures. The heatwaves behind the current Russian fires bear similarities with the Indonesian experiences in 1...

by | On 23 Feb 2016

Water Disputes in South Asia: Can the Region Come Together?

Several factors drive water disputes in South Asia. To solve the problems, it is critical to involve even China. Solutions must foster the sharing of water resources through increasing dialogue and bu...

by | On 22 Feb 2016

Report on “Inter-State Water Conflicts in Southern Asia”

Water conflicts are a subject of intense debate and discussion in Southern Asia, which comprises India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and China. Factors such as the history of partiti...

by S. Rajaratnam International Studies | On 22 Feb 2016

Tamil Nadu Interim Budget Speech 2016-2017

Budget speech by the Hon’ble Minister for Finance and Public Works, Government of Tamil Nadu

by O Panneerselvam | On 22 Feb 2016

Causes and Consequences of Rural-Urban Migration: A Study of Migrant Street Vendors in Dhaka City

In developing countries like Bangladesh rural-urban migration affects development in both urban and rural areas. As such, this study focuses on establishing the major causes and consequences of the mo...

by Research Institute of Social Welfare and | On 21 Feb 2016

Are Returns To Private Infrastructure In Developing Countries Consistent With Risks Since The Asian Crisis?

This paper presents a basic assessment of the financial performance of infrastructure service operators in developing countries. It relies on a new database of 120 companies put together to track the...

by Maria Pinglo | On 21 Feb 2016

Preferential Trading In South Asia

This paper examines the economic case for the South Asia Free Trade Area (SAFTA) Agreement signed on January 6 th, 2004 by India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, and the Maldives. It s...

by Tercan Baysan | On 21 Feb 2016

Does Conservation Agriculture Deliver Climate Change Mitigation Through Soil Carbon Sequestration in Tropical Agro-Ecosystems?

Conservation agriculture (CA), comprising minimum soil disturbance, retention of crop residues and crop diversification, is widely promoted for reducing soil degradation and improving agricultural sus...

by David Powlson | On 19 Feb 2016

Slums – Past, Present and Future

In this lecture Eugenie Birch demonstrates the growth of slums and associated solutions over time, explaining the reasons for their formation and the various approaches employed to improve substandard...

by | On 19 Feb 2016

Street-led city-wide slum upgrading

This lecture proposes a fundamental shift in addressing the problems of slums, and suggests an approach that focuses on streets as the engine for urban transformation. The strategy brought forward by...

by | On 19 Feb 2016

Urban Drainage & Green Infrastructure

This lecture addresses the need to reduce the impact of city development of flooding on residents and in other places, and the worsening of the water quality in streams, rivers and lakes caused by the...

by | On 19 Feb 2016

Urban Economy in the New Millennium

Michael Cohen in this lecture illustrates data about economic growth that demonstrate how cities act as engines of national economic development. In 2008, for the first time in human history, half the...

by | On 19 Feb 2016

Too Pressed To Wait

Jane Weru in this lecture highlights the plight of women and girls living in informal settlements in Nairobi, with special regard to the poor sanitation conditions prevalent in informal settlements in...

by | On 19 Feb 2016

Adaptation to Climate Change in India: A Study of Union Budgets

The present study reviews the framework on adaptation in India and provides an estimation of the public resources devoted to this sector.

by Kaushik Ganguly | On 18 Feb 2016

Integrated Farming Systems And Resilient Agricultural Landscapes

Asia’s rapid change across socio-economic and political spheres, amid population growth and rising demand for food, feed and energy supplies, is unprecedented. To strike a balance between economic gro...

by Research Consultative Group on International Agricultural | On 18 Feb 2016

Enhancing Forage Integration And Access For Smallholder Livestock Production

In the upland areas of Southeast Asia, most smallholder farmers keep animals. Buffalo provide a traditional source of draught power for land preparation or transport, and animal manure is often used t...

by Research Consultative Group on International Agricultural | On 18 Feb 2016

Transboundary Pollution: Arrival of the Haze Refugee?

The ‘climate refugee’ is not a new phenomenon. We are most likely set to see thousands displaced within their own countries or across borders as a result of adverse weather in future. This year’s fore...

by | On 16 Feb 2016

COP21 Paris Climate Change Conference: Can Global Deal Be Achieved?

All eyes are on Paris where world leaders will meet for the much anticipated 2015 climate change conference. They are expected to reach a consensus on a legally-binding climate agreement for all count...

by | On 16 Feb 2016

Awareness and the Demand of Safe Drinking Water Practices

The demand for environmental goods is often low in developing countries. The major causes are awareness regarding the contamination of water and poverty, but less attention has been paid to the former...

by Eatzaz Ahmed | On 16 Feb 2016

Delivering Access to Safe Drinking Water and Adequate Sanitation in Pakistan

Water and Sanitation is the neglected sector in Pakistan. Most of the households in Pakistan do not have access to safe drinking water and lack toilets and adequate sanitation systems. These poor peop...

by Faheem Jehangir Khan | On 16 Feb 2016

National Finance Commission Awards in Pakistan: A Historical Perspective

This study explores the evolution of fiscal resource distribution in Pakistan. Pakistan is a federation comprising four provinces, federally administered areas, and the Islamabad Capital Territory. Be...

by Iftikhar Ahmed | On 16 Feb 2016

Financial Inclusion, Financial Education, and Financial Regulation: A Story from Indonesia

Many reforms have taken place in Indonesia following the Asian financial crisis of 1997– 1998. The government has embarked upon institutional transformation, making the country one of the region’s mos...

by Georg Inderst | On 16 Feb 2016

Overview of Ground Water in India

The Standing Committee on Water Resources examined the subject ‘Review of ground water scenario, need for a comprehensive policy and measures to address problems in the country with particular referen...

by Roopal Suhag | On 15 Feb 2016

Southwest Area Integrated Water Resources Planning and Management Project in Bangladesh

The Southwest Area Integrated Water Resources Planning and Management Project in Bangladesh became the first initiative to successfully incorporate beneficiary participation into all aspects of managi...

by Asian Bank | On 15 Feb 2016

Linking the Corruption, Water and Environmental Agendas to Combat Climate Change

Corruption in the water sector compromises the environmental agenda. It contributes to water scarcity, large- scale pollution and the destruction of natural habitats — all factors which make our respo...

by Transparency International TI | On 14 Feb 2016

Mitigating the Costs of Corruption in Water for the Poor

The water crisis, exacerbated by corruption, is exacting a high human toll on the lives of the poor and vulnerable. Corruption makes water undrinkable, inaccessible and unaffordable. In developing cou...

by Transparency International TI | On 14 Feb 2016

Afghanistan’s Displaced People: 2014 and Beyond

Afghanistan is the largest refugee repatriation operation in the world. More than 5.7 million people have returned in the last ten years, representing nearly a quarter of the current population of 28...

by Aidan O'Leary | On 14 Feb 2016

Trends in Inequality, Welfare, and Growth in Pakistan, 1963-64 to 2004-05

The present study investigates the trends in inequality, welfare, and growth based on per capita household income/consumption in Pakistan, both its rural and urban areas, from 1963-64 to 2004-05. It e...

by Nadia Zakir | On 14 Feb 2016

Public Health in india: Challenges Ahead

As the world’s largest democracy and the second most populous country in the world, India has experienced sea change since its independence in various facets of development. However as per public heal...

by Anuj Sabharwal | On 13 Feb 2016

Climate Adaptation: Seizing the Challenge

The World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Climate Change’s report, Climate Adaptation: Seizing the Challenge, captures some of the latest thinking in the field of climate adaptation and fina...

by World Economic Forum [WEF] | On 11 Feb 2016

Mongolian Futures: Scenarios for a Landlocked State

During the decades of the USSR, the Mongolian People’s Republic was a somnolent client of Moscow with only token relations with the West. After the break with the Soviet Union in 1990, and democratiza...

by | On 09 Feb 2016

China’s Changing Policy on UN Peacekeeping Operations

Beijing currently has a relatively active policy with regards to UN peacekeeping, especially when compared to its history or the commitment of other major powers. China’s active policy on UN peacekeep...

by | On 09 Feb 2016

Life and Work in Jeedimetla: A Montage

The workers have to put up with poor housing and living conditions that cramp and disrupt their family lives. There is no government plan to house these workers when industrial areas like in Jeedimetl...

by Mithun Som | On 09 Feb 2016

Urban Health Programme in Chhattisgarh State: Evolution, Progress and Challenges

A Baseline Study was conducted in 11 cities in early 2012 by the State Health Resource Centre. The survey focused on understanding utilization of maternal and child health services by urban slum popul...

by Priyanka Sahu | On 09 Feb 2016

Ensuring Identity and Entitlements of India’s Urban Poor

Can we create awareness among the urban poor and create documents for them? What are the steps to be followed for that?

by K.R. Antony | On 09 Feb 2016

The State of the World's Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

The Report on the State of the World’s Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture provides a comprehensive overview on the status and trends of conservation and use of plant genetic resources at...

by Food and Agricultural Organization [FAO] | On 08 Feb 2016

Save and Grow in practice: maize, rice, wheat

FAO’s best-selling 2011 publication, Save and Grow, proposed a new paradigm of agriculture, one that is both highly productive and environmentally sustainable. This new book looks at the application o...

by Food and Agricultural Organization [FAO] | On 08 Feb 2016

The Second Report on the State of the World’s Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

This report updates the global assessment provided in the first report on The State of the World’s Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, published in 2007. It focuses particularly on chan...

by Food and Agricultural Organization [FAO] | On 08 Feb 2016

Factors Determining Public Demand for Safe Drinking Water (A Case Study of District Peshawar)

This study was undertaken to analyze the magnitude of awareness, perception, practices, and demand for safe drinking water. The study further elaborated HHs Willingness to Pay (WTP) for improved water...

by Iftikhar Ahmad | On 06 Feb 2016

Egypt 2014: National Integrity System Assessment

Between 2011 and 2014, Egypt experienced perhaps the most turbulent and uncertain phase in its modern history. The elimination of widespread corruption was one of the key issues galvanising Egyptians...

by Transparency International | On 05 Feb 2016

Israeli Interference in Sudan

As part of its initial publications, the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies will soon issue a book in Arabic, titled The Secession of Southern Sudan: Risks and Opportunities. The book is the...

by | On 03 Feb 2016

Structural Change, Global Imbalances, and Employment in the Least Developed Countries

This paper addresses the effects of changes in the level and composition of global demand, and especially of global rebalancing, on trade flows and employment from a demand perspective. It emphasizes...

by International Centre for Sustainable Trade and Development | On 03 Feb 2016

Urbanization and Inequality in Hypertension Diagnosis and Medication in Indonesia

Urbanization has been progressing quickly in Indonesia and the consequences on health and health inequities are still not well understood. In this paper, new empirical evidence is presented on the dif...

by Matthias Helble | On 02 Feb 2016

Towards a Framework for Achieving Food Security in the Mountains of Pakistan

The agriculture sector in Pakistan sustains the livelihoods of 45 per cent of the national population. Both the direct and indirect contributions of the agriculture sector to overall growth and wellbe...

by Golam Rasul | On 02 Feb 2016

Tunisia: Revolution of the Citizenry… a Revolution without a Head

The Tunisian revolution exhibited itself as a popular revolution by all measures, catching the attention of many historians and writers in various fields; for years to come, the revolution will be a r...

by | On 02 Feb 2016

Repercussions of the Arab Spring on GCC States

Regardless of the final outcome of the Arab Spring, it is beyond doubt that the Arab Homeland is undergoing an exceptional revolutionary moment and has witnessed a formative year, which does not often...

by | On 02 Feb 2016

Rural Transport, Safety and Security

By 2020, road accidents are expected to be the third highest cause of death and disability globally. Transport safety concerns in poor countries have focused mainly on roads and motorised traffic, but...

by International Forum for Rural Transport and Develo IFRTD | On 01 Feb 2016

Making it Safer to Cross Waterways in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka has about 120,000 engineered rural waterway crossings (such as bridges) and another 250,000 non-engineered crossings built and maintained by communities. Because of a lack of financial and h...

by Granie Jayalath | On 01 Feb 2016

Reviving the Local Dialect in Qatar: An Issue of Linguistic Concern or Identity Politics?

Historically, Qataris have strived for autonomy and independence, and have always sought to define themselves apart from others. This has dictated a specifically defined identity in which language sta...

by | On 01 Feb 2016

On the Intellectual and Revolution

This essay is not an attempt to provide a comprehensive historical or sociological treatment of the subject of intellectuals and their role in revolution; rather, it is a conceptual contribution that...

by | On 01 Feb 2016

Swings and Roundabouts: A narrative on Water Policy Development in Sri Lanka

This paper deals with the ‘swings and roundabouts’ encountered in water policy development in Sri Lanka. In recent decades, policy reforms for water resource management nationally-demanded but designe...

by Rajindra Ariyabandu | On 01 Feb 2016

Water Policy Brief : Water Policy Programme

Access to clean water is central to healthy and productive lives for the poor. Yet at the beginning of the 21st Century over one billion people still lack this vital resource (WWC, 2000). A decade ago...

by Water Policy Programme WPP | On 01 Feb 2016

A Taste of Success: Examples of the Budget Work of NGOs

This report is a compilation of examples of the budget work undertaken by nongovernmental organizations from around the world. Although many of these organizations are new to budget analysis, they h...

by International Budget Partnership IBP | On 01 Feb 2016

Forests: the Green and REDD of Climate Change

Forests are crucial for rural development, access to water, agricultural productivity, energy, soil conservation, and flood control. Forests are also home to at least 80 per cent of terrestrial biodiv...

by United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs | On 31 Jan 2016

Increasing Public Spending in Agricultural R&D to Ensure Food Security in Developing Countries

Arguably, ensuring food and nutrition security for all people in the coming decades is the major challenge for the global community. Food demand is increasing in aggregate and per capita values, in pa...

by United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs | On 31 Jan 2016

India’s Role in East Asia: Lessons from Cultural and Historical Linkages

India’s presence in the East Asia Summit signals not only a victory for New Delhi’s “Look East” policy but also an implicit “Look West” policy on the part of India’s neighbors to the east. This conver...

by Ellen L. Frost | On 31 Jan 2016

Integrating Urban Agriculture and Forestry Into Climate Change Action Plans: Lessons From Western Province, Sri Lanka And Rosario, Argentina

Climate change adds to the existing challenges faced by cities. Cities – as net consumers rather than producers of food – are already highly vulnerable to the disruption of critical food and other sup...

by Marielle Dubbeling | On 30 Jan 2016

State Capacity and Inclusive Development: New Challenges and Directions.

This paper takes stock of recent advancements in the literature on state capacity and connects them tothe study of inclusive development. Specifically, four particular lines of argument are presented....

by Matthias Hau | On 30 Jan 2016

Situational Analysis of Women's Representation in National Politics

The paper reviews the party declarations, election manifestos, party structures and level of women's presence within five different political parties as mentioned above. The election manifestos and co...

by . BRAC | On 30 Jan 2016

Determinants of Cesarean Deliveries in Pakistan

Role of cesarean section (C Section) is acknowledged worldwide to safe maternal and neonatal life, and especially in countries like Pakistan where maternal health care is not satisfactory. But there i...

by Saman Nazir | On 30 Jan 2016

Expansion and Evaluation of Social Science Disciplines in Public Sector Universities of Pakistan from 1947 to 2013

The purpose of this research study was to examine the expansion and to evaluate the social sciences in Pakistan. The sample consisted of 60 departments of social sciences from five disciplines (Econom...

by Muhammad Arslan Haider | On 30 Jan 2016

An Analysis of Pegged Exchange Rate Between Bhutan and India

This paper analyzes the applicability of the theory of optimum currency area to the pegged exchange rate regime between Bhutan and India. Most of the optimum currency criteria hold true for Bhutan and...

by Karma Galey | On 29 Jan 2016

Israel and the Fencing Policy: A Barrier on Every Seam Line

This article tries to analyze the multiple aspects of separation barriers built by Israel since its inception in 1948, and evaluate their effectiveness in order to show whether such a policy makes Isr...

by | On 29 Jan 2016

Hamas: Between Efforts to Politicize the Court and Demands of Justice

For the two contending sides in any conflict, the give-and-take of pain-inducing blows is somewhat a given. Hamas, the Islamic Resistance Movement, has suffered a good many such blows over the course...

by | On 29 Jan 2016

Russia and the Arab Spring: Changing Narratives and Implications for Regional Policies

The Arab Spring was a milestone for contemporary Middle Eastern history. The global phenomenon not only transformed the Arab world from within, but also challenged the regional status of major externa...

by | On 29 Jan 2016

Recognition of Forest Rights and Livelihoods of Tribal Communities: A Study of Western Ghats Region, Kerala State

The study tries to examine the implementation process of the Forest Rights Act 2006 in Kerala, in terms of providing individual holding land rights and community rights over forest products. The stu...

by Jyothis Sathyapalan | On 29 Jan 2016

Glacier Systems and Seasonal Snow Cover in Six Major Asian River Basins: Water Storage Properties under Changing Climate

The publications in this series cover a wide range of subjects—from computer modeling to experience with water user associations—and vary in content from directly applicable research to more basic stu...

by Vladimir Smakhtin | On 28 Jan 2016

Services Trade Agreement in South Asia Contours and Modalities

Available literature on regional trade integration in South Asia points to a variety of economic and non-economic factors that have slowed the integration process. The major non-economic factors inclu...

by South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics & Environment SAWTEE | On 28 Jan 2016

Mainstreaming Community-Based Conservation in a Transboundary Mountain Landscape Lessons from Kangchenjunga

This paper draws recommendations for transboundary and participatory biodiversity conservation from ICIMOD’s pioneering Kangchenjunga Conservation Landscape Initiative. The Kangchenjunga landscape, sh...

by Karma Phuntsho | On 28 Jan 2016

China and its Peripheries: Limited Objectives in Bhutan

Of all the nations that border China, its comparison with Bhutan would appear to be a paradox. In comprehensive power terms, Bhutan is almost a nonentity to China. Bhutan’s biggest disadvantage is its...

by Tilak Jha | On 28 Jan 2016

An Integrated Assessment of the Effects of Natural and Human Disturbances on a Wetland Ecosystem: A Retrospective from Phobjikha Conservation Area, Bhutan

Phobjikha Valley, a wetland situated on the western slopes of Jigme Singye Wangchuck National Park, is an important wintering habitat for the vulnerable Black-necked crane (Grus nigricollis). One of t...

by International Centre for Integrated Mountain Devel ICIMOD | On 28 Jan 2016

Oilseeds and Pulses in Indian Agriculture: A Review of Development Policy and Production Performance

The study finds that a high order of technology and yield gap exists and indicates that there is enormous scope to accelerate the pace of growth in the production of both oilseeds as well as pulses....

by B.L. Kumar | On 28 Jan 2016

Promoting Land Development in India and China: Imperatives for Institutional Changes

This paper compares the experiences in India and China and draws lessons for policy formulation. The important lessons are: (a) self-financing nature of FLC/SWC is a crucial factor for achieving effec...

by Jeemol Unni | On 28 Jan 2016

Economic Rationale, Subsidy and Cost Sharing for Watershed Projects: Imperatives for Institutions and Market Development

This paper seeks to examine the experiences with respect to subsidies and cost-sharing in the light of the various watershed programmes supported by the state as well as donor agencies and other non-g...

by Amita Shah | On 28 Jan 2016

Linking Conservation with Livelihood: Lessons from Management of Gir-Protected Area in Western India

The paper talks about linking-up of regeneration efforts within and outside the Protected Area (PA) by treating them as an integrated ecological system may help better management and also protection o...

by Amita Shah | On 28 Jan 2016

Primary Health Care in Gujarat: Evidence on Utilization, Mis-Matches and Wastage

In order to provide adequate and quality primary health care, a multi-layered network of public health infrastructure has been created right from the district to the village level. But Health for All...

by B.L. Kumar | On 28 Jan 2016

Drinking Water Supply: Environmental Problems, Causes, Impacts and Remedies – Experiences from Karnataka

Drinking water is a basic requirement for life and a determinant of standard of living. The paper examines the nature and magnitude of environmental problems, causes and impacts in drinking water supp...

by Puttaswamaiah S. | On 28 Jan 2016

Potable Water for the Rural Poor in Arid Rajasthan: Traditional Water Harvesting as an Option

This paper enquires into the potential of wells (as TWHS) in the Thar Desert area of Rajasthan. Following a detailed analysis of hydrological and structural aspects of the source and quality of water,...

by Keshab Das | On 28 Jan 2016

Management by Participation? Village Institutions and Drinking Water Supply in Gujarat

One of the critical dimensions of rural water supply has been participation by the local community in managing the source and finances. Drawing upon case studies of 20 villages (spread across 17 distr...

by Keshab Das | On 28 Jan 2016

Promoting Agricultural Growth in Myanmar: A Review of Policies and an Assessment of Knowledge Gaps

This paper reviews the agricultural policy environment in Myanmar up until 2014 with an eye towards identifying policies that can help to accelerate productivity and profitability in the agricultural...

by Ulrike Nischan | On 28 Jan 2016

Overcoming the Challenges of Urban Food and Nutrition Security

Despite the high contribution of urban areas to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), urban poverty and nutrition security in India remains a challenge. Poor infrastructure, high unemployment, poor state...

by M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation | On 26 Jan 2016

The 1000 Day Window of Opportunity for Improving Child Nutrition in India: Insights from National-level Data

Using Data from National Family Health Surveys (NFHS), this note shows the patterns of child growth in India. It also shows that in India the status of recommended essential interventions in this wind...

by Purnima Menon | On 26 Jan 2016

Patterns, Processes of Reproduction, and Policy Imperatives for Poverty in Remote Rural Areas: A Case Study of Southern Orissa in India

The paper examines the spatial pattern of poverty in India and tries to understand how multiple deprivation leads to reproduction of poverty especially in forest-based economies in the central-eastern...

by Amita Shah | On 26 Jan 2016

Drinking Water and Sanitation in Rural Madhya Pradesh: Recent Initiatives and Issues

This paper presents a brief account, based primarily on available secondary sources, of the current status of drinking water supply and sanitation in rural Madhya Pradesh. With a discussion on the lop...

by Keshab Das | On 26 Jan 2016

Agency and Access under Decentralized Governance: Water Supply and Sanitation in Kolkata City

Ensuring sustainable access to basic services in urban India has continued to remain a major challenge for civic bodies. A fast growing urban population has exerted great pressure on the provisioning...

by Keshab Das | On 26 Jan 2016

Agroforestry in Tribal Areas of Gujarat: Move towards Sustainable Agriculture?

This paper examines the agroforestry initiative adopted by the Government of Gujarat with the aim to enhance the incomes of tribal households facing numerous production constraints. The specific objec...

by Jharna Pathak | On 26 Jan 2016

The Telangana Turmoil: Apprehensions and Hope

The paper addresses the apprehensions relating to state bifurcation among people of different regions in the state and the country. The paper argues that a new state can not be a threat either to the...

by Madhusudan Bandi | On 26 Jan 2016

Naxal Movement in India: A Profile

In order to understand the current phase of Naxalism, we need to understand different aspects of organizational transformation that have occurred within the Naxal movement, since the genesis and curre...

by | On 25 Jan 2016

Changing Livelihoods in Delhi’s Periphery, circa 1930–2012

The understanding of livelihoods in an economy dominated by informality can benefit considerably from correlations between macro data on employment and detailed studies of ‘work’ and ‘non work’ in sel...

by Devesh Vijay | On 24 Jan 2016

New Trade Links: A Step towards Asian Economic Integration?

This paper states that the sheaf of trade- and investment-agreements that India and Bangladesh have now signed will open up opportunities for New Delhi to look at, and beyond, its near-East neighbour...

by | On 23 Jan 2016

Climate Change, Food Security and Trade Linkages in South Asia

This Briefing Paper examines the linkages between climate change, food security and trade in South Asia. Studies suggest that in Asia the heat stress due to climate change will reduce crop yields in t...

by Ram Jha | On 23 Jan 2016

Impact of Water and Sanitation Interventions on Childhood Diarrhea: Evidence from Bangladesh

This paper analyses the possible relevance of water and sanitation improvements for diarrhoea reduction in the context of Bangladesh. Much of the public policy thinking in the past was guided by publi...

by Binayak Sen | On 23 Jan 2016

Loss & Damage Associated with Climate Change: The Legal and Institutional Context in Bangladesh

The study concludes that existing legal and policy frameworks provide a limited scope to assess and address both the current and potential future risk of loss and damage associated with the adverse im...

by Abdullah Faruque | On 23 Jan 2016

Trend and Characteristics of Recent Inflation in Bangladesh

In the backdrop of recent global developments, this note examines some of the characteristics of inflation in Bangladesh including the contribution of major commodity groups to overall inflation in ru...

by Bangladesh Bank | On 23 Jan 2016

Post-Harvest Profile of Chilli

Chillies are integral and the most important ingredient in many different cuisines around the world as it adds pungency, taste, flavour and color to the dishes. Indian chilli is considered to be world...

by Department of Agriculture & Cooperation GOI | On 22 Jan 2016

Fostering Synergy between Health and ICDS for Advancing Child Survival and Development

This case study was undertaken to understand and document the experiences of the Valsad district. The researchers spent two weeks in Valsad collecting data. Interviews were conducted with functionarie...

by Climate Modelling Forum CMF | On 22 Jan 2016

Climate Change and Cities

This paper is a study of climate change discourse in urban India. It suggests that the policies being articulated to deal with climate issues are premised on incremental changes rather than radical re...

by Abhiroop Mukhopadhyay | On 21 Jan 2016

On Migration and the Policy Process

Accepting that virtually any policy can have some impact on the movement of people, one can also recognize that a series of policies exist that have been developed specifically to deal with migration...

by | On 20 Jan 2016

Climate Change and Food Systems: Global Assessments and Implications for Food Security and Trade

This book collects the findings of a group of scientists and economists who have taken stock of climate change impacts on food and agriculture at global and regional levels over the past two decades....

by Food and Agricultural Organization [FAO] | On 20 Jan 2016

Zinc Status in South Asian Populations—An Update

This article attempts to highlight the prevalence of zinc deficiency and its health and economic consequences in South Asian developing countries and to shed light on possible approaches to combating...

by S Akhtar | On 20 Jan 2016

2014 revision of the World Urbanization Prospects

Today, 54 per cent of the world’s population lives in urban areas, a proportion that is expected to increase to 66 per cent by 2050. Projections show that urbanization combined with the overall growth...

by United Nations (UN) | On 19 Jan 2016

Rural Sanitation Transformation in Himachal Pradesh

The relationship between poor sanitation, water borne disease, mortality and malnutrition is well documented. Statistics about the number of deaths due to diarrhea as well as stunting caused by malnut...

by Deepak Sanan | On 19 Jan 2016

Social Policies and Water Sector Reform

Increasing coverage and maintaining infrastructure are two of the biggest challenges confronting the water supply sector in both industrialized and developing countries. The last two decades have witn...

by | On 19 Jan 2016

Whose Side Are You On? Identifying The Distributive Preferences of Local Politicians in India

The literature on decentralized public programs suggests that errors in the targeting of anti-poverty programs are rooted in the capture of these programs by local elites or local politicians. Consist...

by Mark Schneider | On 18 Jan 2016

A Tale Of Two Villages: Kinship Networks And Political Preference Change In Rural India

This paper develops a theory on how voters form and change political preferences in democratic developing world contexts. In the developing world, where state institutions are often weak, voters tend...

by Neelanjan Sircar | On 18 Jan 2016

Housing Policies in China: Issues and Options

This article consists in three parts. The first part deals with theory. We evaluate the pros and cons of government involvement in urban housing and of renting versus ownership. In the second part, we...

by Yves Zenou | On 14 Jan 2016

Reclaiming the Grassland for the Cheetah: Science And Nature Conservation In India

The role of scientists in influencing the aims and priorities of biological conservation in developing countries has been a topic of debate and needs elucidation. The Asiatic cheetah reintroduction pl...

by | On 14 Jan 2016

Women Migrants and their Mental Health: A Study of Working Women Hostellers in Mumbai

Mental health is an important component of the total positive health and is interwoven closelywith the physical and physiological dynamics of the human body. Migrant population, being a non-native pop...

by Reshmi R S | On 13 Jan 2016

Development

The study of international organizations inevitably leads to consideration of the role of several that have been at the heart of international efforts to promote development after World War II, primar...

by David Malone | On 13 Jan 2016

Challenges for Economic Empowerment of Women In South Asia

This paper examines the changing work profiles of women in the South Asian region, with all elements of contradictions, in terms of doubling their burdens or empowering them. Are the newer avenues for...

by Preet Rustagi | On 13 Jan 2016

Social Policy in Development: Coherence and Cooperation in the Real World

Research and practice related to social policy and poverty alleviation have left a legacy of a very broad agenda of “things that need to be done”, along with important unanswered questions about how t...

by | On 13 Jan 2016

Climate Change Impacts in Drought and Flood Affected Areas: Case Studies in India

The focus of this report is on vulnerabilities in natural resources and rural livelihoods, which stand at the front line of climate change impact. The overarching objective of this report is to promot...

by World Bank [WB} | On 12 Jan 2016

Operational Guidelines of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana

The vision of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) will be to ensure access to some means of protective irrigation to all agricultural farms in the country, to produce ‘per drop more crop’,...

by Ministry of Agriculture GOI | On 11 Jan 2016

The Perils of Counting Caste

While the unpublished findings of the ‘Caste Census’ in India might not receive serious attention if ever made public, some of the socio-economic data, made available by the same Census, can set the m...

by Ronojoy Sen | On 10 Jan 2016

Urgency of Understanding Sanitation Drivers in ‘Smaller Cities’ in India: National and International Relevance

The paper emphasises the fact that the fastest growth in India’s urban population is occurring in its smaller cities and towns. They have glaringly inadequate sewerage and public sanitation infrastruc...

by Shubhagato Dasgupta | On 09 Jan 2016

Rural Tamil Nadu in the Liberalisation Era: What Do We Learn from Village Studies?

In this paper, the aim is to survey the findings of village studies that have been accomplished over the last two decades the era of economic liberalisation in India together with those of larger-scal...

by J. Jeyaranjan | On 09 Jan 2016

The Afghanistan Conflict in its Historical Context

Afghanistan has long been used as a battleground for strategic wars by larger external powers. This is in part due to its geographic position between the Middle East, Central Asia and South Asia. Acco...

by Riaz Hassan | On 09 Jan 2016

A Tortured History : Federalism and Democracy in Pakistan

The Pakistan Army’s ideological hegemony, especially in the country’s Punjabi-speaking heartland, the continuing focus on the state’s narrative of a religion-based unitary identity which is under a co...

by Aasim Akhtar | On 08 Jan 2016

Temporal and Spatial Changes in the Incidence of Agricultural Labourers

The attempt of the present thesis has been to examine the incidence of agricultural labourers in the state of Maharashtra. It primarily aimed at analysing changes in the size of the labour force in ag...

by Awanish Kumar | On 08 Jan 2016

Patterns and Politics of Migration in South Asia

Migration is an important social and historical reality in South Asia. In the past decade, migration from one country to another and internal migration (i.e. migration within a particular country) hav...

by Sanjay Barbora | On 08 Jan 2016

A Report on Fluorosis mitigation in Dhar District (M.P.)

Vasudha Vikas Sansthan with the help of Peoples’ Science Institute, Dehra Doon undertook fluoride testing and fluorosis mitigation in Tirala, Dharampuri and Umarban bloks of Dhar district. The program...

by People's Science Institute PSI | On 07 Jan 2016

Activity Based Training of WaterAid India Partners in Water Quality Monitoring & Management

Effective monitoring of access to, quantity of and quality of water is a key consideration for India. Given the large investments and big programmes and schemes including the current thrust of Sector...

by People's Science Institute PSI | On 07 Jan 2016

Mercury Contamination of the Ground water in Bhopal

Water samples were collected from groundwater sources used by the communities residing in several settlements around the UCIL factory. These sources included handpumps, tubewells and one open well. A...

by | On 06 Jan 2016

Groundwater, Fluoride Contamination in Unnao District (U.P)

A recent survey done by Vikas Bharati, an Unnao-based voluntary organization, revealed that 35%, 47.8% and 60.3% of children were affected with dental fluorosis, in Junior High School, Thana, Janta Sh...

by People's Science Institute PSI | On 06 Jan 2016

Urbanization as “Development” Versus Constitutional Safeguards for the Tribal People

Following are excerpts from Report of a PUCL Fact Finding Team into unrest and repression in the Sundergarh scheduled district of Odisha.

by People's Union of Civil Liberties PUCL | On 06 Jan 2016

50 Years of Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation: A Report

As the program on Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) continues to grow, through this comprehensive study, IDCR analyzes the evolution of ITEC, and its impact on India’s bilateral relatio...

by Centre for Policy Research (CPR) | On 05 Jan 2016

Internal Migration, Poverty and Development in Asia

This article explores the relationship between internal migration and economic growth and development in Asia, concentrating on four countries: China, India, Vietnam and Indonesia. Levels of internal...

by | On 05 Jan 2016

Book Review: A Persuasive Narrative

Review of Eat Dust: Mining and Greed in Goa by Hartman de Souza; Harper Collins India; 2015, pp 288, Rs 350. Eat Dust: Mining and Greed in Goa By Hartman de Souza; Harper Collins India; 2015, p...

by Augusto Pinto | On 02 Jan 2016

Summary of Indonesia's Poverty Analysis

Economic growth averaging 5.8% since 2010 has helped to lift 3.3 million Indonesians out of poverty. Yet 28 million were still living below the government’s poverty line in March 2014. Indonesia’s nat...

by Priasto Aji Aji | On 01 Jan 2016

Working of Forest Rights Act 2006 and Its Impact on Livelihoods: A Comparative Study of Odisha and Jharkhand

Clearly, the monograph addresses a set of critical issues related to the forest rights and livelihood and makes a sincere effort to draw attention to the plight of forest dependent communities. Policy...

by Tapas Kumar Sarangi | On 30 Dec 2015

Water and People: A National Perspective Mitti Aur Pani Mein Sona Hai

The failures of water management have been extensively studied and reviewed and the shortcomings are listed.

by Ravi Chopra | On 29 Dec 2015

Jal Sanskriti From Consumption to Conservancy

Although endowed with an abundant supply of water, people in the western central Himalayan region, namely Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, suffer from a variety of water problems. The Jal Sanskriti p...

by People's Science Institute PSI | On 29 Dec 2015

Livelihood Transitions in Hilaungad Watershed

The Hilaungad watershed, a sub-catchment of the larger Lastargad basin, lies on the west bank of the Mandakini river which rises from the nearby snow covered peaks of the high Himalayas. For the purpo...

by Ravi Chopra | On 29 Dec 2015

Migration from North-East to Urban Centres: A Study of Delhi Region

It is only very recently that out-migration of natives of the North East Region to other localities in India became a problem of apprehension. Though the natives of the North East Region are tradition...

by Babu Remesh | On 26 Dec 2015

Policy Options for India in Bangladesh

This brief explores future policy options for India in Bangladesh. India and Bangladesh share historical, geographical and cultural bonds. Bangladesh has ‘Bengali’ a lingual and cultural attachment wi...

by Sanjay Bhardwaj | On 23 Dec 2015

Shia and Iranian Ascendance: Sunni and American Perceptions

The primary aim of this paper, however, is not to account for the historical/political rise of Shiaism or of Iran, or even debate the existence of the so-called ‘Shia Crescent,’ but to examine instead...

by | On 22 Dec 2015

Water-Related Disasters and Disaster Risk Management in the People’s Republic of China

Disaster risk now presents one of the most serious threats to inclusive and sustainable socioeconomic development. Coupled with anticipated increases in the frequency and intensity of weather-related...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 21 Dec 2015

Addressing Climate Change Risks, Disasters, and Adaptation in the People’s Republic of China

It is vital for countries to identify climate risks, reduce these risks through mitigation, and adapt to these risks—thereby increasing resilience and reducing vulnerability. This study informs decisi...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 21 Dec 2015

Managing Firms in an Emerging Economy: Evidence From The Time Use of Indian CEOS

The success or failure of a company is often ascribed to the behavior of its CEO. Yet little is known about what top managers actually do, whether this matters for firm performance, and why it differ...

by Oriana Bandiera | On 18 Dec 2015

Transforming the economic lives of the ultra-poor

This brief describes key findings from a rigorous seven-year evaluation of the first of these livelihood programmes, BRAC’s ‘Targeting the Ultra-Poor’ programme in rural Bangladesh. Targeted household...

by Clare Balboni | On 18 Dec 2015

Contemporary Naxal Movement in India: New Trends, State Responses and Recommendations

This paper makes an attempt to map the Maoist conflict in its present state of affairs and while describing its present manifestations, the past links have always been revisited. The paper also attemp...

by | On 17 Dec 2015

Sri Lanka: Rising Sectarian Schism

Sri Lanka, home to a plethora of ethnically diverse communities, saw horrific communal bloodshed in July 1983. Over three decades down the line, history seems to be repeating itself as hordes of Budd...

by Chaarvi Modi | On 17 Dec 2015

Education Reforms, Bureaucracy and the Puzzles of Implementation: A Case Study from Bihar

It is a widely accepted truth that the Indian state suffers from a serious crisis of implementation capability. Despite widespread recognition of this crisis, there is remarkably little analytical wor...

by | On 15 Dec 2015

Water in the Post-2015 Development Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals

The objective of this discussion paper was to provide background for discussions of the UNESCO-IHP Side-Event on "Water in the Post-2015 Development Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals" during th...

by | On 08 Dec 2015

Health Assessment of Ganga River at Haridwar During Kumbh 2013

With a view to undertake the exercise the of health assessment of Ganga River River during Kumbh 2013 a water quality monitoring was done during Kumbh 2013. The present report is based on the socio-cu...

by People's Science Institute PSI | On 08 Dec 2015

Statistics Related to Climate Change - India 2015

Climate change has been the part of many discussions and to understand it causal factors behind it data is needed.

by Ministry of Statistics and Prog Implementation (MOSPI) | On 07 Dec 2015

Identifying a Fair Deal on Climate Change

A fair deal on climate change for developed and developing countries is identified by focusing not on equitable emissions quotas but on fair access to energy services.

by Nancy Birdsall | On 07 Dec 2015

Book Review:Development Urbanism, International Expertise, and Solutions to the Crises of India’s Urban Transition

Review of India: The Urban Transition - A Case Study of Development by Henrik Valeur, Copenhagen: Arkitektur B, 2014. Illus- trations, graphs. 344 pp. $44.50 (paper), ISBN 978-87-92700-09-4.

by Preeti Chopra | On 06 Dec 2015

Climate Change, Water and Food Security

This report summarizes current knowledge of the anticipated impacts of climate change on water availability for agriculture. The implications for local and national food security are examined; and the...

by | On 04 Dec 2015

Look to the Forests: How Performance Payments can Slow Climate Change

This report argues that what is urgently needed is a tested but far from fully exploited approach to funding forest conservation: pay-for-performance transfers, under which public (and private) funder...

by Nancy Birdsall | On 03 Dec 2015

Monitoring Mortality in Forced Migrants—Can Bayesian Methods Help Us to Do Better with the (Little) Data We Have?

The global number of forced migrants is currently the highest since the Second World War. This is a major concern to public health: lack of access to safe water, food, sanitation, and inadequate shel...

by Peter Heudtlass | On 30 Nov 2015

A Review of Issues Pertaining to Distribution of Liquefied Petroleum Gas and Superior Kerosene Oil in Bhutan

LPG and Superior Kerosene Oil (SKO), are not only important sources of fuel, but also commodities whose price is subsidized to benefit the people of Bhutan. Therefore, it is important to ensure smooth...

by National Council Economic Affairs Committee | On 27 Nov 2015

Challenges to Human Security in the Arab Countries

In Arab countries, a widespread lack of human security undermines human development, according to the Arab Human Development Report 2009: Challenges to Human Security in the Arab Countries. This repor...

by | On 26 Nov 2015

Comment of the Draft Environmental Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2015

The Bill which proposes fundamental changes to Environmental Governance in India is deeply disconcerting and disruptive of prevailing environmental jurisprudence. The Bill promotes fundamental changes...

by Environment Support Group (ESG) | On 20 Nov 2015

Requiring Indian Utilities to Report: Harnessing Disclosure Legislation to Improve Water and Sanitation Services

The paper argues for a regular public reporting of key performance indicators by the WatSan utilities in India. It elaborates on how the policy behind these reforms could be operationalized.

by Premila Nazareth Satyanand | On 18 Nov 2015

Sanitation in India: Progress, Differentials, Correlates, and Challenges

Communicable diseases constitute a significant portion of the overall disease burden in India. Improving access to sanitation in India will, similarly, reduce the communicable disease burden and chil...

by Sekhar Bonu | On 18 Nov 2015

Evaluation of Multipurpose Community Learning Centres of BRAC in Rural Areas of Bangladesh

This study aimed to evaluate the Multipurpose Learning Centres or Gonokendros (GK) operated by BRAC jointly with the local community in rural areas of Bangladesh. Two main goals were process evaluatio...

by | On 09 Nov 2015

Assessing Farmer's Willingness to Participate in the On-farm Conservation of Minor Millet using Direct Compensation Payment

This study attempts to examine the role of farmer incentive mechanisms to conserve minor millets in Kolli Hills. The millet varieties were classified either as most preferred varieties (MPVs) or leas...

by | On 06 Nov 2015

The Sector Reforms Process in Rural Drinking Water and Sanitation: A Review of the Role of WASMO in Gujarat

This paper provides an assessment of the interventions in reforming the drinking water and sanitation sector in Gujarat as through the Water and Sanitation Management Organisation (WASMO) from a sup...

by Keshab Das | On 06 Nov 2015

Upgrading a Piped Water Supply from Intermittent to Continuous Delivery and Association with Waterborne Illness: A Matched Cohort Study in Urban India

Intermittent delivery of piped water can lead to waterborne illness through contamination in the pipelines or during household storage, use of unsafe water sources during intermittencies, and limite...

by Ayse Ercumen | On 05 Nov 2015

Pragmatic Pathways: Critical Perspectives on Research Uptake in the Global South

One of social science’s core roles is to inform evidence-based policy making and policy interventions that produce pro-poor outcomes. This paper explores prominent debates on research uptake and polic...

by | On 05 Nov 2015

Performance of Targeted Public Distribution System in Kerala

Targeted Public Distribution System was introduced in the country following the failure of the Universal PDS to serve below the poverty line and poorest of the poor households.It is being implemente...

by T Jayan | On 04 Nov 2015

Productivity and Efficiency Impacts of Zero Tillage Wheat in Northwest Indo-Gangetic Plains

Conservation agriculture (CA) technologies are being developed for the cereal production systems of South Asia to address the multifaceted problems of decelerating agricultural productivity, resource...

by Vijesh Krishna | On 02 Nov 2015

Skyrocketing Prices of Pulses and the Agrarian Crisis: Impact of Neo-liberal Policies

This interview with Vijoo Krishnan, Joint Secretary All India Kisan Sabha, on the agrarian crises leading to farmer suicides and rising prices of food grains traces backs the agrarian crises to the ne...

by Vijoo Krishnan | On 02 Nov 2015

Costs of Providing Sustainable Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Services in Rural and Peri-Urban India

Water, sanitation and hygiene services are central to addressing poverty, livelihoods and health. They are also critical in addressing the needs of poor communities and in achieving the Millennium Dev...

by M.V. Ramachandrudu | On 29 Oct 2015

Ending Malnutrition: From Commitment to Action

Ending Malnutrition offers key insights from the Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2) to catalyze follow-up actions across the world. It reviews current evidence on the prevalence of ma...

by Vikas Rawal | On 23 Oct 2015

Child Centred Approach to Climate Change and Health Adaptation through Schools in Bangladesh: A Cluster Randomised Intervention Trial

Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change. People are getting educated at different levels on how to deal with potential impacts. One such educational mode was the preparati...

by | On 21 Oct 2015

Book Review: Creating a New Medina: State Power, Islam, and the Quest for Pakistan in Late Colonial North India

Review of Creating a New Medina: State Power, Islam, and the Quest for Pakistan in Late Colonial North India New York: Cambridge University Press, 2015. 554 pp. Rs 940 (Hardcover) ISBN 978-1-107-05212...

by Gail Minault | On 14 Oct 2015

Labour Force Participation in Rural Bihar: A Thirty-Year Perspective Based on Village Surveys

This paper focuses on the economic activity and the work status of men, women and children in rural Bihar. It uses data from surveys carried out in 36 villages under the research programme, Aiming at...

by | On 13 Oct 2015

Violence Against Women in Rural Bihar: A Case of Four Villages

This covers various kinds of violence in the private and public spheres faced by women in the four villages. It concludes with issues for further research and some policy suggestions.

by Shivani Satija | On 12 Oct 2015

Status of Preventive Health Care in Bihar: A District Level Study

This study tries to examine preventive health care services that diminish the possibility of exposure to diseases through improvement and accessibility to safe drinking water and sanitation facilities...

by Abhijit Ghosh | On 12 Oct 2015

The Sunday Edit: History, Politics and Science: Temerity of Archaeology

The echoes of the execution of the Syrian archaeologist, Khaled al-Assad by ISIS for trying to protect the antiquities at Palmyra, and the attempts to brutally erase intellectual inquiry, are to be he...

by Anuradha Kumar | On 11 Oct 2015

Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007–2012) Social Sector

The Eleventh Plan places the highest priority on education as a central instrument for achieving rapid and inclusive growth. It presents a comprehensive strategy for strengthening the education secto...

by Planning Commission, India | On 09 Oct 2015

Achievements of BRAC Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Programme Towards Millennium Development Goals and Beyond

BRAC WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) programme aims to facilitate, in partnership with the government of Bangladesh and other stakeholders, the attainment of the targets of UN Millennium Developm...

by Nepal C Dey | On 09 Oct 2015

Attempting the Production of Public Goods through Microfinance: The Case of Water and Sanitation

This paper evaluates the attempt to create public goods via microfinance loans. Microfinance loans in the production of goods with public goods characteristics signify an emergent micro-privatisation....

by Philip Mader | On 06 Oct 2015

The Hunger and Nutrition Commitment Index (HANCI 2014) - Measuring the Political Commitment to Reduce Hunger and Undernutrition in Developing Countries

This report presents the Hunger And Nutrition Commitment Index (HANCI) 2014. It seeks to: 1. Rank governments on their political commitment to tackling hunger and undernutrition; 2. Measure what gover...

by | On 01 Oct 2015

Scarce Land: Issues, Evidence and Impact

This paper was written in response to something that happened at one session of the 2013 Cuddalore Conference of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS). In India, net sown area had expanded from 1950-51 up...

by Sheila Bhalla | On 01 Oct 2015

Ground Water and Farm Incomes at Risk from Climate Change in Tamil Nadu, India

Research from South India suggests that climate change will affect ground water availability with serious and negative implications for agriculture. Any increase in temperature above a threshold of ...

by R. Balasubramanian | On 30 Sep 2015

Rural Poverty Reduction Strategy for South Asia

Roughly 40 percent of the world’s poor live in South Asia, where poverty is basically a rural problem. Therefore, a significant gain in rural poverty reduction in this sub-region will be crucial to re...

by | On 30 Sep 2015

Climate Sensitivity of Groundwater Systems Critical for Agricultural Incomes in South India

This study examines the implications of variations in climate variables on ground water sources of irrigation and agricultural income in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Our findings, based on a panel...

by Balasubramanian R | On 24 Sep 2015

Demand for Piped Drinking Water and a formal Sewer System in Bhutan

In this study, it is estimate the demand for sewage connections and piped drinking water in Bhutan. To estimate household willingness to pay for these services, the data is used from a sample of 18,76...

by | On 24 Sep 2015

What Explains Child Malnutrition of Indigenous People of Northeast India?

Household risk factors affecting child health, particularly malnutrition, are mainly basic amenities like drinking water, toilet facility, housing and fuel used for cooking. This paper considered the...

by Laishram Ladusingh | On 24 Sep 2015

The Challenge of Slums - Global Report on Human Settlements 2003

The Challenge of Slums presents the first global assessment of slums, emphasizing their problems and prospects. It presents estimates of the numbers of urban slum dwellers and examines the factors tha...

by United Nations Human Settlements Programme UN-Habitat | On 23 Sep 2015

Mobile Phones: The Next Step towards Healthcare Delivery in Rural India?

Given the ubiquity of mobile phones, their use to support healthcare in the Indian context is inevitable. It is however necessary to assess end-user perceptions regarding mobile health interventions e...

by | On 22 Sep 2015

Economic Growth and Employment Linkages: The Indian Experience

Conventional growth models incorporate capital but not labour as the determining variable. An alternative way to look at growth is to treat it a function of growth of employment and productivity: grow...

by | On 18 Sep 2015

The Bali Agreement: An Assessment from the Perspective of Developing Countries

This paper discusses the different agreements and decisions reached in the Bali Ministerial Conference and the potential implications for the post-Bali work program. The results of the Bali Minister...

by Eugenio Díaz Bonilla | On 16 Sep 2015

Women's Participation in the History of Ideas and Reconstruction of Knowledge

"The problems of knowledge are central to feminist theorizing which has sought to destabilize androcentric, mainstream thinking in the humanities and in the social and natural sciences". The feminist...

by | On 14 Sep 2015

Impact of Water and Sanitation on Selected Water Borne Diseases in India

One of the Millennium Development Goals is to provide improved sanitation facilities along with availability of potable water; which are indeed the two basic needs for human survival. However, despite...

by Brijesh C. Purohit | On 14 Sep 2015

Obituary: Ramaswamy R Iyer, 1929 - 2015

Ramaswamy Iyer, former union secretary of Water Resources for the government of India, and professor at the Center for Policy Research, and well known advocate of alternatives to big dams, passed awa...

by Aravinda P | On 11 Sep 2015

Water Resource Planning: Large Dams and Development

Large dams stand out as dramatic symbols of a particular approach to development and a certain relationship between humanity and nature. Starting with the crucial question of the need for such projec...

by Ramaswamy R. Iyer | On 11 Sep 2015

Overcoming the Curse of Malnutrition in India: A Leadership Agenda for Action

The leadership agenda for action released by Coalition for Sustainable Nutrition Security in India to promote policy, programme and budgetary focus on overcoming the curse of malnutrition. The Coaliti...

by Coalition for Food & Nutrition Security India | On 11 Sep 2015

Roots: Unusual Stories from Goa

After generations of wanderlust, that often snapped ties with their roots, Goans from far and near are returning with renewed interest to trace their origins. And they may be the lucky ones. Goa with...

by Frederick Noronha | On 09 Sep 2015

Sanitation in Maharashtra: A Policy Note

More than half of Rural Maharashtra defecates in the open. The main issue to understand is the nexus between the access to water and adoption of sanitation practices. It is also interesting to underst...

by Parliamentarian's Group for Children PGC | On 09 Sep 2015

A Nation under Threat: The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Rights and Forced Migration in Bangladesh

The report explores how climate change has become one of the major challenges to the enjoyment of the basic rights to life, food, health, water, housing and self-determination in one of the World's mo...

by Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) | On 08 Sep 2015

The End of Laissez-faire, the End of History, and the Structure of Scientific Revolutions

The subject of this essay is formed from three classic pieces of writing: The End of Laissez-Faire by John Maynard Keynes, The End of History? by Francis Fukuyama, and The Structure of Scientific Revo...

by Ravi Kanbur | On 07 Sep 2015

Civil Society Briefs: Myanmar

This brief provides an overview of civil society in Myanmar. With a view to strengthening ADB cooperation with civil society organizations, the NGO and Civil Society Center periodically prepares repor...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 07 Sep 2015

A Review of Data on Nutrition in India: Preliminary Findings

This paper summarizes the preliminary findings of Global Nutrition Report (GNR), which we shared at the GNR stakeholder roundtable in New Delhi. The primary recommendations suggested are a set of core...

by | On 04 Sep 2015

Kerala Perspective Plan 2030

The Kerala Perspective Plan 2030 (KPP) is a Government of Kerala initiative that will serve as the basis for implementation of a series of initiatives aimed at fostering sustainable and inclusive grow...

by Government of Kerala Govt | On 04 Sep 2015

Lessons for South Asia from the Industrial Cluster Development Experience of the Republic of Korea

This report presents the industrial cluster development policy of the Republic of Korea and draws lessons from that experience for South Asia. It briefly reviews Korean industrial policy since the 196...

by Jong-il Kim | On 31 Aug 2015

The Sunday Edit: On Preserving Our Pasts

The emerging interest in our past prompts unsettling questions and issues throwing up controversies. How we handle them will mark our maturity as a civilisation.

by Padma Prakash | On 30 Aug 2015

Book Review: Shifting Stones, Shaping the Past: Sculpture from the Buddhist Stupas of Andhra Pradesh

Review of Shifting Stones, Shaping the Past: Sculpture from the Buddhist Stupas of Andhra Pradesh. Shifting Stones, Shaping the Past: Sculpture from the Buddhist Stupas of Andhra Pradesh. New York: Ox...

by Padma Kaimal | On 20 Aug 2015

Demand for Watershed Services: Understanding Local Preferences through a Choice Experiment in the Koshi Basin of Nepal

This study undertakes a choice experiment in order to identify differences in local demand for watershed services in the Koshi basin of Nepal. The paper first examines the possibility of using a non-m...

by Rajesh Kumar Rai | On 20 Aug 2015

Report of the Steering Committee on Rapid Poverty Reduction and Local Area Development (2007-2012)

This report of the steering committee on rapid poverty reduction and local area development for the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-2012). The first section attempts to examine the data on the poor, the...

by Planning Commission, India | On 14 Aug 2015

Book Review: Visions of Dystopia in China's New Historical Novels

Review of Visions of Dystopia in China's New Historical Novels. New York: Columbia University Press, 2014. 304 pp. $50.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-231-16768-0.

by Nathaniel Isaacson | On 13 Aug 2015

The Socially Responsible Company as a Strategic Second-Order Observer: An Indian Case

The emergence of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as a global component of business-society relationships has triggered many controversial debates in which CSR is either advocated as a source of...

by Damien Krichewsky | On 07 Aug 2015

Energy Sources of Indian Households for Cooking and Lighting

This report is by the National Sample Survey Office, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India is part of the series on household consumer expenditure on utilisation of...

by National Sample Survey Office NSSO | On 31 Jul 2015

Long-Run Trends in the Distribution of Income and Wealth

This paper reviews the long run developments in the distribution of personal income and wealth. It also discusses suggested explanations for the observed patterns. It tries to answer questions such as...

by | On 30 Jul 2015

Future and New Thoughts on Co-operative Banks

The co-operative movement in India is more than a century old; regulation thereof is also more than a century old with the first major impetus provided by the passage of the Co-operative Society Act i...

by R. Gandhi | On 29 Jul 2015

Forgotten Voices: The World of Urban Children in India

This report discusses how the major urban development schemes in India do not adequately take into account issues related to children’s health, education, growth, safety and participation. The rising...

by Save Children | On 28 Jul 2015

Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Ordinance 2014: A Process Perspective

This paper captures the policy processes leading to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (RFCTLARR) Ordinance, 2014. It maps the role an...

by G. Raghuram | On 28 Jul 2015

Performance of Flagship Programmes in Tamil Nadu

This study aims to provide a mid-term appraisal of the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-12), focusing on the performance of flagship programmes in Tamil Nadu. In this paper, a brief note on the Eleventh...

by K. R. Shanmugam | On 27 Jul 2015

To Consume or to Conserve: Examining Water Conservation Model for Wheat Cultivation in India

Constitutionally in India, the individual states have responsibility for water, forests, and agriculture. Major canal irrigation accounts for over 80 percent of India's irrigation. This paper observes...

by Zareena Begum Irfan | On 24 Jul 2015

Progress on Sanitation and Drinking Water

In 2000 the Member States of the United Nations signed the Millennium Declaration, which later gave rise to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Goal 7, to ensure environmental sustainability,...

by World Health Organisation (WHO) | On 15 Jul 2015

The Sunday Edit: Different Strokes

The processes followed in estimating and adjudicating damage in arriving at the recent settlement in the five-year old BP oil well disaster are an object lesson in what should have happened in the cas...

by Sathinath Sarangi | On 12 Jul 2015

Estimating Demand for Turtle Conservation at the Rekawa Sanctuary in Sri Lanka

This study estimates the entrance fee that can be charged to visitors for ‘turtle watching’ to ascertain whether revenues from such fees can be used to compensate fishermen and reduce such illegal...

by R. M. Wasantha Rathnayake | On 10 Jul 2015

Welfare Comparisons with Multidimensional Well-Being Indicators: An Indian Illustration

This paper attempts a welfare comparison of population where only ordinal information is available at the micro level in terms of multi-dimensional discrete well-being indicators. This does not involv...

by Udaya S. Mishra | On 08 Jul 2015

Migration and Human Development in India

The paper discusses how gaps in both the data on migration and the understanding of the role of migration in livelihood strategies and economic growth in India, have led to inaccurate policy prescript...

by Priya Deshingkar | On 03 Jul 2015

Book Review: The Oxford Companion to Pakistani History

Review of The Oxford Companion to Pakistani History ed. Ayesha Jalal. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012. 558 pp. Rs. 4,488.75. ISBN-13: 978-0195475784.

by Rohit Wanchoo | On 02 Jul 2015

Status of Rural Water Supply in Rural Maharashtra

This report is an outcome of the field study conducted to assess the rural water supply schemes In rural Maharashtra. The aims of the study are to understand the water supply systems and their functio...

by S. Ramesh Sakthivel | On 26 Jun 2015

Fourth Report on Issues Concerning Flood Management, Compensation and Status of Ownership of Submerged and Eroded Land in the Country

Standing Committee on Water Resources (2014-15) took up this subject for a detailed examination and report. It includes flood affected area and damaged scenario, causes of flood, role of Union and Sta...

by Lok Sabha Secretariat | On 25 Jun 2015

Tracking Universal Health Coverage: First Global Monitoring Report

This report is the first of its kind to measure health service coverage and financial protection to assess countries’ progress towards universal health coverage. It shows that at least 400 million...

by World Health Organisation (WHO) | On 25 Jun 2015

Improving Children’s Lives, Transforming the Future – 25 years of Child Rights in South Asia

Despite rapid economic growth in South Asia, strong inequalities persist and children pay a heavy price. This publication examines latest trends and data on children in the eight countries of the regi...

by United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF | On 24 Jun 2015

Progress for Children beyond Averages: Learning from the MDGS

A child’s chance to survive and thrive is much greater in 2015 than it was when the global community committed to the MDGs in 2000. Data show significant progress in areas such as child survival, nutr...

by United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF | On 24 Jun 2015

Gender Equality Results Case Study-Nepal: Community-Based Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project

The Community-Based Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project aimed at expanding the coverage of improved water supply and sanitation facilities to poor and remote areas, and improving health and hyg...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 12 Jun 2015

Water for Food Security and Nutrition

This report is a report by the High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition of the Committee on World Food Security. Water is key to food security and nutrition. However there are many c...

by Food and Nutrition Division FAO | On 10 Jun 2015

Annual Administration Report 2011-12

The report details the development in environment and Forests areas of Himachal Pradesh. There is a need to manage it properly and scientifically in order to fulfill ecological and environmental requi...

by Himachal Pradesh Government of India | On 08 Jun 2015

Gujarat Ecology Commission Annual Report 2013-14

This report of Gujarat Ecology Commission (GEC) provides information and other inputs which are needed to develop policy and provide the right approach for ecological conservation and sustainable deve...

by Gujarat Ecology Commission Government of Gujarat | On 08 Jun 2015

Fourteenth Report on Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and Empowerment of Women in Rural Areas

The primary objective of the Act is augmenting wage employment. In this regard, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 provides for the enhancement of livelihood security of the...

by Committee on Empowerment of Women GOI | On 01 Jun 2015

Report of the Working Group on AIDS Control for the 12th Five Year Plan

The paper aims to review the status of on-going National AIDS Control Programme with reference to objectives, strategies, plan initiatives, targets and outlays during 11th Five Year Plan and achieveme...

by National AIDS Control Programme NACP | On 25 May 2015

State of Indian Farmers: A Report

The present study is based on primary survey across 18 states of India by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi conducted between December 2013 and January 2014. The survey wa...

by | On 18 May 2015

All India Report on Number and Area of Operational Holdings

This report provides disaggregated information about operational holdings at the national level and for states/UT. The present report which is an outcome of the first phase of agriculture census 2010-...

by Agriculture Census Division GoI | On 14 May 2015

The Coal Mines (Conservation & Development) Amendment Bill, 2012: Standing Committee on Coal and Steel (2012-2013)

Standing Committee on Coal and Steel present this Thirty-Seventh Report (Fifteenth Lok Sabha) on "The Coal Mines (Conservation & Development) Amendment Bill, 2012" relating to the Ministry of Coal. Th...

by Lok Sabha Secretariat | On 14 May 2015

Report of the Working Group on Agriculture and Related Issues on Dryland / Rainfed Farming System Including Regeneration of Degraded / Waste Land, Watershed Development Programme

The report provides a strategy in the field of agriculture related issues on Dryland / Rainfed Farming System including Regeneration of Degraded / Waste Land, Watershed Development Programme.

by Ministry of Agriculture GOI | On 13 May 2015

Karnataka Youth Policy: Draft

The youth policy, has as its ultimate vision, an inclusive approach that hopes to ensure a `take away` for each segment of the youth. The policy also aims at making the structures and institutions of...

by | On 12 May 2015

Draft State Sports Policy-2010

In order to achieve excellence in sports, government of Assam aims to adaopt a uniform policy so that sports activities in the state are spread over the year. Assam sports policy aims to provide sport...

by Government of Assam | On 12 May 2015

Inter Linking of Rivers: Action taken in the Eleventh Report (14th Lok Sabha) of the Standing Committee on Water Resources

This Report of the Standing Committee on Water Resources deals with the action taken by the Government on the recommendations / observations contained in their Eleventh Report on Water Resources (2008...

by Lok Sabha Secretariat | On 11 May 2015

Water pollution in India: Eighth report of the (Sixteenth Lok Sabha) Public Accounts Committee (2014-15)

Public Accounts Committee (2014-15) present this Eighth report (Sixteenth Lok Sabha) on water pollution in India based on C&AG Report No. 21 of 2011-12, Union Government for the year ended March 2012...

by Lok Sabha Secretariat | On 11 May 2015

Report on the State of Food Insecurity in Rural India

This Report is an update of the Rural Food Insecurity Atlas of 2001 released by the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) and the World Food Programme (WFP). Since then, numerous new programmes...

by V B Athreya | On 06 May 2015

Assamese Language, Narrative and the Making of the North East Frontier of India: Beyond Regional Indian Literary Studies

This paper is divided into two broad sections. The first section deals with the Brahmaputra Valley in Assam (north east India) and its transformation into a frontier in the nineteenth century. The sec...

by Manjeet Baruah | On 05 May 2015

MGNREGA Sameeksha: An Anthology of Research Studies on the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee (2005) Act 2006–2012

This report by Ministry of Rural Development is an analytical anthology of all major research studies done on Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Act (MGNREGA) that were published in various acad...

by | On 29 Apr 2015

Disputes, (de)Politicization and Democracy: Interstate Water Disputes in India

Interstate water disputes in India often prolong over long periods and tend to recur. The Cauvery dispute tribunal was constituted in 1990 and the final award was given in 2007, after 17 years. The...

by Environmental Management & Policy Research Institute | On 28 Apr 2015

MGNREGA and Empowerment of Women in Rural Areas by Parliamentary Committee on Empowerment of Women (2011-12), Fourteenth Report

The primary objective of the Act is augmenting wage employment. In this regard, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 provides for the enhancement of livelihood security of the...

by Committee on Empowerment of Women GOI | On 28 Apr 2015

Report of the Expert Group to Recommend the Detailed Methodology for Identification of Families Living Below Poverty Line in the Urban Areas

The paper focuses on the objective of putting in place a uniform criteria to identify the BPL households in urban areas so that objectivity and transparency is ensured in delivery of benefits to the t...

by Planning Commission | On 27 Apr 2015

Infrastructure Gap in South Asia: Infrastructure Needs, Prioritization, and Financing

If the South Asia region hopes to meet its development goals and not risk slowing down or even halting growth, poverty alleviation, and shared prosperity, it is essential to make closing its huge infr...

by World Bank | On 27 Apr 2015

Report of the Committee for Evolving a Composite Development Index of States

This report however, also takes a step forward in trying to draw a balance between “needs” and “performance”. Given that poor administration or weak institutions in a recipient state can fritter away...

by Ministry of Finance | On 23 Apr 2015

Millennium Development goals India Country Report- 2015

This report entitled "Millennium Development Goals India Country Report 2015", which is the latest in a series of such reports since 2005, captures India's achievements and challenges in respect of th...

by Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementatio GOI | On 21 Apr 2015

Compendium of State Policies from the Perspective of Climate Change Mitigation

The report documents compendium of state policies from perspective of climate change mitigation with findings such as many states endowed with rich natural resources are naturally very environment fri...

by | On 21 Apr 2015

Book Review: Home, Uprooted: Oral Histories of India's Partition

Review of Home, Uprooted: Oral Histories of India's Partition. New York: Fordham University Press, 2014. 288 pp. Rs. 1875.00, ISBN 978-0-8232-5644-0.

by Nishat Zaidi | On 17 Apr 2015

Towards a Water and Food Secure Future

The aim of this paper is to provide policy-makers with a helpful overview of the technical and economic aspects of water use in agriculture, with particular emphasis on crop and livestock production....

by Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN UN | On 15 Apr 2015

Pakistan: The Worsening IDP Crisis

Internally displaced persons operation was one of the first against armed anti-state fighters in the tribal belt, and marked the beginning of operations across the seven tribal agencies of the Federal...

by International Crisis Group | On 06 Apr 2015

War and the Lightness of Being Adivasi: Security Camps and Villages in Bijapur, Chhattisgarh

Since June-July 2014, reports have been filtering in regarding the intensification of Operation Green Hunt in the forest villages of Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh. Civil rights organizations have b...

by PUDR Peoples Union for Democratic Rights | On 31 Mar 2015

Water for a Sustainable World

The 2015 World Water Development Report sets both an aspirational and a realistic vision for the future of water towards 2050. This report comes at a critical moment, when freshwater resources face ri...

by UNESCO UNESCO | On 27 Mar 2015

India Water Portal Newsletter - Water and Women

A special issue on issues concerning 'Water and Women' in India

by | On 27 Mar 2015

The UN World Water Development Report 2015, Water for a Sustainable World

The 2015 edition of the United Nations World Water Development Report (WWDR 2015), titled Water for a Sustainable World, will be launched at the official celebration of the World Water Day, on March 2...

by United Nations UN | On 26 Mar 2015

BRICS Trade Policies, Institutions and Areas for Deepening Cooperation

This document studies the Trade Policies and Institutions of BRICS, India and BRICS: issues of trade and technology; and examines the scope for deepening cooperation in services among BRICS members. T...

by | On 24 Mar 2015

A Dynamic Economic Model of Soil Conservation Involving Genetically Modified Crop

This paper attempts to model the positive role of cultivation of Genetically Modified (GM) crop with its soil-anchoring root-characteristic and use of conservation-tillage technology, in saving orga...

by Amrita Chatterjee | On 23 Mar 2015

Pakistan’s Water Crisis

‘One of the most water-stressed countries in the world, not far from being classified as water scarce’, Pakistan faces an existential threat- one that could potentially hobble its already modest econo...

by | On 20 Mar 2015

The World Water Development Report 2014: Water and Energy

The World Water Development Report is produced by the World Water Assessment Programme, a programme of UN-Water hosted by UNESCO, and is the result of the joint efforts of the UN agencies and entities...

by Environmental Management & Policy Research Institute | On 13 Mar 2015

The Economic Impacts of Inadequate Sanitation in Pakistan

In Pakistan, the deterioration of the environment continues to harm livelihoods and health, increasing the vulnerability of the nation’s poor. It has long been clear that lack of access to clean wat...

by | On 13 Mar 2015

Review - Shifting Ground: People, Animals and Mobility in India's Environmental History

Review of Shifting Ground: People, Animals and Mobility in India's Environmental History. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014. 308 pp. Rs. 818 (hardcover), ISBN 978-0-19-809895-9.

by | On 13 Mar 2015

Investing to Overcome the Global Impact of Neglected Tropical Diseases

This report repositions a group of 17 neglected tropical diseases on the global development agenda at a time of profound transitions in the economies of endemic countries and in thinking about the ove...

by World Health Organisation (WHO) | On 09 Mar 2015

India’s Progress in Combating Climate Change

This Briefing Paper attempts to present a range of initiatives highlighting policy designs and their implementation in various sectors with states and non-state to set up cooperation on climate chan...

by | On 05 Mar 2015

Small Farming Needs a Budget Boost

The asks of the Agriculture sector are many but what all must the budget focus on? A National Convention on Budget 2015-16 by the Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability looks at these.

by Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability | On 26 Feb 2015

Climate Change: Slow It Down or Deal With It?

Climate change is for real and there are two responses – mitigation or adaptation. What does the Union Budget need to do about climate change adaptation?

by Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability | On 26 Feb 2015

Budget 'Asks' for Food and Nutrition Security

With the budget round the corner what are the asks from the standpoint of food sovereignty? A Convention on Budget 2015-16 by the Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability looks at these.

by Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability | On 26 Feb 2015

Citizens Charter on Drinking Water and Sanitation before Union Budget

Ahead of the Union Budget, Civil Society Organizations ask for policy strategies to support drinking water and sanitation for vulnerable sections. Civil society budget groups, collectively as a networ...

by Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability | On 26 Feb 2015

Gujarat Budget Speech: 2015-16

Gujarat Budget 2015-16.

by Saurabh Patel | On 26 Feb 2015

Inclusive Water Governance: a Global Necessity. Lessons from India

Efficient water management has emerged as a critical challenge of environmental protection and human security in the twenty-first century. Lack of water management affects the hydrological cycle of th...

by | On 24 Feb 2015

India Matters: Demanding Toilets

Sanitation is a big challenge in the rural India. Through this you will be taken to to five villages in Sehore district, Madhya Pradesh, to meet families that do not have a toilet at home. Nearly 65 p...

by Sutapa Deb | On 21 Feb 2015

Social Exclusion in the Context of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan

Access to water and sanitation are strongly influenced by identities of caste, class and gender. The launch of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan presents an opportunity to address some concerns pertaining to...

by Kanika Kaul | On 19 Feb 2015

Cost of Providing Sustainable Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Services: An Initial Assessment of LCCA in Andhra Pradesh

Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services levels remain stubbornly low in rural India despite high levels of public expenditure during recent decades. In many areas, this is a result of service le...

by V Ratna Reddy | On 18 Feb 2015

The Impacts of Infrastructure in Development: A Selective Survey

Development economists have considered physical infrastructure to be a precondition for industrialization and economic development. Yet, two issues remain to be addressed in the literature. First, whi...

by Yasuyuki Sawada | On 16 Feb 2015

Book Review: Citizenship and Its Discontents: An Indian History

Review of Citizenship and Its Discontents: An Indian History. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2013. viii + 366 pp. $45.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-674-06684-7.

by Environmental Management & Policy Research Institute | On 09 Feb 2015

Urban Water Crisis in Delhi: Stakeholders Responses and Potential Scenarios of Evolution

This paper proposes to question this conventional diagnosis with a case study of the capital city of India, Delhi. Based on this case study, the paper shows that the scenario of convergence towards un...

by | On 06 Feb 2015

Impending Water Crisis in India and Comparing Clean Water Standards among Developing and Developed Nations

This paper is an overview of the issues surrounding India’s water scarcity, and also comparison of clean water standards between developing and developed nations. Water security is emerging as an incr...

by | On 06 Feb 2015

Enhancing Water-Use Efficiency of Thermal Power Plants in India: Need for Mandatory Water Audits

In view of the very high share of water consumption in thermal power plants, this policy brief highlights the water-use scenario in this sector and emphasizes the need for third party/mandatory and re...

by R K Batra | On 05 Feb 2015

Water Scarcity & Climate Change: Growing Risks for Businesses & Investors

This report outlines the wide-ranging risks investors and companies face from water scarcity and how global climate change will heighten those risks in many parts of the world. The report makes clear...

by | On 04 Feb 2015

Real Pride of Ancient Indian Science

Do we really have the time to waste on controversies like what ancient India did or did not achieve by way of scientific discoveries? This is when there is the huge unfinished agenda to use the best o...

by Sunita Narain | On 03 Feb 2015

A Farming System Model to Leverage Agriculture for Nutritional Outcomes

The objective of paper is to demonstrate feasibility of nutrition-sensitive agriculture. The proposed model is being tested in two select locations to demonstrate improvement in nutrition status throu...

by M S Swaminathan | On 21 Jan 2015

Support to Rural Pension Reform and Administration in the People’s Republic of China

The lack of social protection for the elderly in rural areas of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has, since the 1990s, been seen by the government as a critical issue. The central government intro...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 23 Dec 2014

Dietary Intake and Rural-Urban Migration in India: A Cross-Sectional Study

Migration from rural areas of India contributes to urbanisation and lifestyle change, and dietary changes may increase the risk of obesity and chronic diseases. It tests the hypothesis that rural-to-u...

by Shah Ebrahim | On 02 Dec 2014

Urban Water and Sanitation in Maharashtra

Measuring service levels of urban bodies implies measuring outcomes, and indirectly also reflects on institutional capacity, financial performance and other parameters. In addition, to facilitate comp...

by All India Local Self Government | On 11 Nov 2014

Making Sense of Green Building Rating

It is time to go beyond just lip service to push green reforms in building standards. On analysing reports from the Indian Green Building Council, researchers at the Centre for Science and Environment...

by Sunita Narain | On 11 Nov 2014

Sustainable Agriculture: A Pathway out of Poverty for India’s Rural Poor

Millions of farmers in remote rural areas of India struggle to feed themselves and their families, while the resources on which they depend are deteriorating daily. This book shows how sustainable agr...

by Sustainable Agriculture Information Network | On 06 Nov 2014

Socioeconomic Dynamics of Gender Disparity in Childhood Immunization in India

Recent evidence indicated that gender disparity in child health is minimal and narrowed over time in India. However, considering the geographical and socio-cultural diversity in India, the gender gap...

by Ranjan Kumar Prusty | On 03 Nov 2014

Location Identification for Rapid Evacuation from a Disaster Site: A Case Study from KAPS

Robust plans need to be developed for rapidly evacuating victims from a nuclear disaster site. Although nuclear plants are constructed with multiple redundant safety features, the chances of a leak ca...

by Debjit Roy | On 30 Oct 2014

MGNREGA Works and their Impact: A Rapid Assessment in Maharashtra

This paper presents the results of a survey of over 4100 works created under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and over 4800 randomly selected users across 100 vil...

by Sudha Narayanan | On 20 Oct 2014

Role of Financial Sector in Spurring Growth and Expanding Financial Inclusion in North Eastern Region

The present speech analyses the significant role which can be played by the financial sector in spurring growth and expanding financial inclusion in NER. [CII Banking Collagium in Kolkata].

by P. Vijaya Bhaskar | On 13 Oct 2014

Institutional Credit in Rainfed Areas: District Level Analysis in Southern States

Dryland regions of the country, poorly endowed as they are with natural resources including water are likely to be disadvantaged in terms of access to credit. Within the dryland areas too inter-pers...

by Satyasai K J S | On 08 Oct 2014

Notes on Land, Long-run Food Security and the Agrarian Crisis in India

These Notes are mainly about three interconnected themes; i) the international and Indian ‘take’ on control over land (and water); ii) the distinction between an agricultural crisis and an agrarian...

by Sheila Bhalla | On 01 Oct 2014

Worker’s Rights and Practices in the Contemporary Scenario: An Overview

This book offers a careful summary of the rights and practices of work in the Indian labour market. In specific, it deals with rights deficiency of workers in different sectors especially on agricultu...

by V.V. Giri Labour Institute | On 19 Sep 2014

Scaling up Rural Sanitation in India

The WHO-UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program (JMP) for Water and Sanitation, which tracks progress towards the water and sanitation targets of the Millennium Development Goals, estimates that 36% of the wo...

by Clarissa Brocklehurst | On 10 Sep 2014

Fostering a Digitally Inclusive Aging Society in China: The Potential of Public Libraries

Over the past 40 years, China’s population has been aging at a rate that took more than 100 years in developed countries. In 2010, the number of people over 60 years old reached 178 million in China,...

by World Bank | On 09 Sep 2014

Spatial Convergence and Growth in Indian Agriculture: 1967-2010

Inter-state diversity has been a perennial feature of Indian agriculture. The study probes if per capita income in Indian agriculture has converged across states in the last four and a half decades. I...

by Tirtha Chaterjee | On 06 Sep 2014

How Smart is a Smart City?

Smart is as smart does. The NDA government’s proposal to build 100 “smart” cities will work only if it can reinvent the very idea of urban growth in a country like India. Smart thinking will require t...

by Sunita Narain | On 21 Aug 2014

World Economic and Social Survey 2013: Sustainable Development Challenges

New strategies are needed to address the impacts of rapid urbanisation around the world, including increasing demands for energy, water, sanitation, public services, education and health, according to...

by UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs UNDESA | On 21 Aug 2014

Perceptions of Risks Related to Sexual Violence against Women linked to Water and Sanitation in Delhi, India

The link between a lack of access to water and sanitation facilities and sexual violence against women is not well known and to date has received insufficient attention. This document attempts to hi...

by Shirley Lennon | On 19 Aug 2014

If Only Cities Can See Wetlands

Sixty people died in a building collapse in Chennai last fortnight. There is much more than the municipal incompetence that needs to be fixed to avoid such tragic incidents. This building was located...

by Sunita Narain | On 24 Jul 2014

If only cities

Wetlands are rarely recorded under municipal land laws, so nobody knows about them. Planners see only land, not water and greedy builders take over. It is due to this oversight that buildings are plan...

by Sunita Narain | On 24 Jul 2014

The Din of Silence: Reconstructing the Keezhvenmani Dalit Massacre

This paper is an attempt to reconstruct the Keezhvenmani Dalit massacre of 1968 by placing it in the larger socio-political scenario, giving it a ‘pre-history,’ scouring the various narratives of the...

by Nithila Kanagasabai | On 24 Jul 2014

Power and Resistance: Silence and Secrecy in Avatar - The Last Airbender

In the American animated television series, Avatar: The Last Airbender (ATLA), a visually Asian-influenced world of humans, animals and spirits plays out a history of violence, trauma and resistance....

by Gayatri Viswanath | On 24 Jul 2014

Book Review - Indian Culture through a Television Screen

Book Review - Understanding India: Cultural Influences on Indian Television Commercials discusses Indian Television Commercials in the context of marketing interests and visual culture. The author exa...

by Hemali Sanghavi | On 09 Jul 2014

The Millennium Development Goals Report 2014

At the turn of the century, world leaders came together at the United Nations and agreed on a bold vision for the future through the Millennium Declaration. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) wer...

by United Nations UN | On 08 Jul 2014

Growth of the Urban Shadow, Spatial Distribution of Economic Activities and Commuting by Workers in Rural and Urban India

Unlike migration, scant attention has been paid to the phenomenon of commuting by workers in developing countries. This paper fills this gap by using a nationally representative data set from India t...

by Ajay Sharma | On 20 May 2014

Water Security in South Asia: Issues and Policy Recommendations

It is estimated that by 2030, only 60 per cent of the world's population will have access to fresh water supplies. This would mean that about 3 billion people would be living without reliable source...

by Wilson John | On 15 May 2014

‘Dere tun Dilli’ (From Dera to Delhi)’: Exploring identity formation of refugees from Dera Ismail Khan living in Delhi

The paper records oral narratives of first generation migrants from Dera Ismail Khan (DIK), a small district located in the North West Frontier Province in Pakistan, who moved across the border and li...

by Shilpi Gulati | On 13 May 2014

Karnataka State Action Plan on Climate Change: 1st Assessment

This document represents the first action plan on climate change adopted by Government of Karnataka. Assessments and conclusions presented are based on published research and data. The present knowled...

by Environmental Management & Policy Research Institute | On 12 May 2014

World Atlas of Gender Equality in Education

Gender equality is one of the six goals of the global Education for All campaign that UNESCO leads. This was launched in 2000, when the countries of the world agreed to “eliminate gender disparities i...

by Edward B. Fiske | On 12 May 2014

Indoor Air Pollution and Child Health in India

Indoor air pollution, associated with using biomass cooking fuels, causes an estimated 871,500 child deaths globally every year from respiratory related complications. Children are particularly vulner...

by Meena Sehgal | On 02 May 2014

Report on the State of Food Insecurity In Urban India

The concept of food insecurity is multidimensional in nature and is determined by a whole range of issues such as domestic production of food, import and export of food, purchasing power of people to...

by V. B. Athreya | On 03 Apr 2014

Incorporating Public Good Availability into the Measurement of Poverty

This paper makes an attempt to incorporate bene ts from unpaid public services into consumption decisions to arrive at more accurate measures of poverty and inequality. The analysis is based on prim...

by Anders Kjelsrud | On 14 Mar 2014

Land, Politics, Work and Home-Life at Adimalathura: Towards a Local History

This paper focuses on the fishing hamlet of Adimalathura located on the coast of the Thiruvananthapuram district in Kerala, which has been identified as an area of extreme developmental disadvantage...

by J. Devika | On 11 Feb 2014

Public - Private Partnerships in Kolkata: Concepts of Governance in the Changing Political Economy of a Region

In order to conceptualize the transforming political and economic orders of today’s South Asia, the perspective of contemporary history is taken. For this, Public-Private Partnership – which is bei...

by Sonali Chakravarti Banerjee | On 24 Jan 2014

Obituary: Prof. Ila Pathak (1933-2014): A Feminist Crusader

Ila Pathak was a dedicated social activist who stood by socially excluded sections of society, especially brutalized women. She tirelessly supported women survivors of dowry harassment, rape victims,...

by Vibhuti Patel | On 21 Jan 2014

Under the Thumb of History? Political institutions and the Scope for Action

This paper discusses the two leading views of history and political institutions. For some scholars, institutions are mainly products of historical logic, while for others, accidents, leaders, and dec...

by Abhijit V. Banerjee | On 20 Jan 2014

India’s Watershed Development Boosts Food Security, Improves Livelihoods

India struggles with water scarcity, a problem that poses especially huge implications for the country’s food security and rural livelihoods. While watershed development has been employed in communit...

by Erin Gray | On 09 Jan 2014

Report of the Expert Group on Estimation of Proportion and Number of Poor

The Planning Commission constituted, in September 1989, an 'Expert Group' to consider methodological and computational aspects of estimation of proportion and number of poor in India. [Planning Comm...

by Planning Commission | On 07 Jan 2014

Manual for Integrated District Planning: Report of the Task Force of the Planning Commission

This manual is a step by step guide to district planning which will assist planners at the local, district and State levels. District planning, by taking into account resources locally available, in...

by Planning Commission | On 07 Jan 2014

Hostage to History: Japan-South Korea Relations

With the two leaders of Japan and South Korea having failed to hold an official meeting between them since coming to office, historical issues remain a thorn in the the betterment of Japanese-South K...

by Bert Edström | On 02 Jan 2014

A Global Development Agenda: Toward 2015 and Beyond

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) endorsed by 189 countries in 2000 are an unprecedented global effort to achieve development goals that are identified collectively, achievable, and measurable....

by Bread for the World Institute | On 19 Dec 2013

Asymmetric Information and Middleman Margins: An Experiment with West Bengal Potato Farmers

A study middleman margins, trading mechanisms and the role of asymmetric information about prices between potato farmers and local trade intermediaries, in West Bengal, India is conducted. Farmers in...

by Sandip Mitra | On 23 Oct 2013

Social Inclusion of Internal Migrants in India

Social Inclusion of Internal Migrants in India aims to provide an overview of existing innovative practices that increase the inclusion of internal migrants in society and act as a living document tha...

by United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF | On 21 Oct 2013

Model State Affordable Housing Policy for Urban Areas

The aim of this policy is to create an enabling environment for providing “affordable housing for all” with special emphasis on EWS and LIG and other vulnerable sections of society such as Scheduled c...

by Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation MOHUPA | On 09 Oct 2013

Governance by Denial: Forced Eviction and Demolition of Homes in Ejipura/ Koramangala, Bangalore: Report of a Fact-Finding Mission

The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is responsible for providing infrastructure and services in the metropolitan area. From January 18 to 21, 2013, it bulldozed 1,512 homes (42 blocks) and...

by PUCL Karnataka | On 30 Sep 2013

Report of the Inter Ministerial Group on ICDS Restructuring

Recognizing that there are both programme design and programme implementation gaps in ICDS – the Report of the Inter Ministerial Group on ICDS Restructuring creates new paradigm both for “What” would...

by Planning Commission, India | On 27 Sep 2013

The National Food Security Act, 2013

Our public distribution system has been severely criticized for its gaping lacunae. To fill in these gaps, a new Act was originally conceived by the National Advisory Council headed by Congress Presid...

by Ministry of Law, Justice and Company Affairs GOI | On 17 Sep 2013

Preliminary Evidence on Internal Migration, Remittances, and Teen Schooling in India

Migration can serve as an outlet for employment, higher earnings, and reduced income risk for households in developing countries. The 2004–2005 Human Development Profile of India survey is used to exa...

by Valerie Mueller | On 06 Sep 2013

Employment and Unemployment Situation among Major Religious Groups in India

This report is based on the eighth quinquennial survey on employment and unemployment conducted in the 66th round of NSS during July 2009 to June 2010. The survey was spread over 7402 villages and 5...

by National Sample Survey Office NSSO | On 19 Aug 2013

Schematic Natural Hazard Zonation of Bihar using Geoinformatics

The findings of the present study are being documented with an aim for invoking a paradigm shift in the attitudes and perceptions about natural hazards; this shift should make the state and the peopl...

by Tuhin Ghosh | On 12 Aug 2013

Historical Changes in Relations Between China and Neighboring Countries (1949–2012)

In China’s foreign affairs and security studies, the concept of the ‘neighborhood’ (zhoubian) has a special meaning that has changed gradually over time. As China has developed, its leadership has be...

by Zhang Chi | On 12 Aug 2013

The Changing Pattern of Internal Migration in India: Issues and Challenges

This paper is an attempt to understand the emerging migration patterns in India and issues underlying it. With globalisation, urbanisation and accompanying changes in socio-economic conditions, migran...

by Sandhya Rani Mahapatro | On 07 Aug 2013

Basic Household Amenities in India: A Progress Report

The present paper makes an attempt to analyse the progress of India in three important ‘basic human needs’ essential for a human life. These are access to latrine facility, safe drinking water and ele...

by Udaya S. Mishra | On 01 Aug 2013

Patterns of Migration, Water Scarcity and Caste in Rural Northern Gujarat

Patterns of rural-urban migration and employment shifts in a region that is facing ongoing depletion of groundwater resources in Northern Gujarat, India is discussed. Given that migration typically d...

by Ram Fishman | On 30 Jul 2013

Rainfed agriculture: for an inclusive, sustainable and food secure India

India is increasingly focusing on its rainfed areas due to demand for food and nutrition security, and escalating farmer distress. But agricultural policy paralysis has meant that the familiar, extern...

by Srijit Mishra | On 16 Jul 2013

Land, Labour and Migrations: Understanding Kerala’s Economic Modernity

This paper seeks to map out the historical trajectory leading to a series of migrations in and from the erstwhile princely state of Travancore during 1900-70 in order to acquire and bring land under c...

by V. J. Varghese | On 26 Jun 2013

Allotment of Ration Cards and Ration to the Families Migrating from Drought Areas

Government resolution (GR) by Maharashtra government for migrant workers from drought areas. [Government of Maharashtra]. URL:[https://www.maharashtra.gov.in/Site/Upload/Government%20Resolutions/Engli...

by Food, Civil Supplies And Consumer Protection Depar Govt. Of Maharastra | On 18 Jun 2013

Examining Private Participation in Embankment Maintenance in the Indian Sundarbans

This paper analyses the complementarities between land productivity and conservation investments in the context of river embankment maintenance in the Indian Sundarbans.[SANDEE]. URL:[http://www.san...

by Prasenjit Sarkhel | On 06 Jun 2013

Weather and Migration in India: Evidence from NSS Data

The present study attempts to, (a) analyse the broad patterns of temporary and permanent migration in India; and (b) explore the determinants of temporary and permanent migration with special focus...

by K S Kavi Kumar | On 06 Jun 2013

An Observer

An Observer portrays the plight of inter state migrants in India. Dreams are limns of reality that sometimes remain shattered, which also signifies the fact that life is a beautiful 'bitter fruit'. ...

by Raghu Raman | On 04 Jun 2013

Assessing Farmer ’s Willingness to Participate in the On - farm Conservation of Minor Millet using Direct Compensation Payment

The farmers, predominantly the small and tribal, particularly in regions of rich agro-biodiversity immensely contribute to the on-farm conservation and enrichment of this diversity, often at personal...

by Prabhakaran Raghu | On 22 May 2013

Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011 in Rural India

This booklet explains the SECC,2011, as it relates to rural India, and details the entire process in simple language. [Ministry of Rural Development]. URL:[http://rural.nic.in/sites/downloads/general...

by Ministry of Rural Development GOI | On 02 May 2013

Water in India: Situation and Prospects

This report attempts to provide a comprehensive analysis of the state of water resource development and management in India, based on secondary information. It maps the current challenges and sugg...

by Anjal Prakash | On 30 Apr 2013

Understanding the Dynamics of Socio-Economic Mobility: Tales from Two Indian Villages

The study takes a comparative approach by examining household livelihood mobility within two very different villages, in the same district administration of Madhya Pradesh (MP), India. [ODI Working Pa...

by Caroline Wilson | On 26 Apr 2013

The Impact of NREGA on Rural-Urban Migration: Field survey of Villupuram District, Tamil Nadu

Migration can act as a negative force. It can lead to distress migration, which is what happens when people have to go to cities to find work because they cannot survive on what they can earn in thei...

by Naomi Jacob | On 17 Apr 2013

Twelfth Five Year Plan (2012–2017): Faster, More Inclusive and Sustainable Growth

Twelfth Five Year Plan (2012-2017). [Planning Commission, GOI]. URL:[http://planningcommission.nic.in/plans/planrel/12thplan/pdf/vol_1.pdf].

by Planning Commission | On 10 Apr 2013

Options and Determinants of Rice Residue Management Practices in the South-West Region of Bangladesh

This study examines options for managing rice residue and the factors that determine its management in the south-west region of Bangladesh. Study results indicate that while straw length, low-elevatio...

by Mohammed Ziaul Haider | On 29 Mar 2013

The Lancang-Mekong River Basin: Reflections on Cooperation Mechanisms Pertaining to a Shared Watercourse

The ambitious development plans for the Lancang-Mekong River Basin (LMRB) could have serious environmental, social, cultural and even geopolitical ramifications that could in turn destabilise the Meko...

by Apichai Sunchindah | On 15 Mar 2013

Women Political Leaders, Corruption and Learning: Evidence from a Large Public Program in India

In the paper there is a use of nation-wide policy of randomly allocating village council headships to women to identify the impact of female political leadership on the governance of projects implemen...

by Farzana Afridi | On 07 Mar 2013

Address by the President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee to Parliament

Reviving economic growth is the priority of the government. [http://presidentofindia.nic.in/sp210213.html].

by Pranab Mukherjee | On 22 Feb 2013

Metabolism Of Mumbai- Expectations, Impasse and the Need For a New Beginning

As population and human activities expand they exert heavy environmental pressure through the resource requirement, their production and consumption. Hence, it is important to understand the resource...

by B. Sudhakara Reddy | On 12 Feb 2013

An Alternative to Conventional Public Water Service: “User Group Networks” In a Mumbai Slum

Providing universal access to drinking water remains a formidable challenge in the cities of developing countries where an estimated 500 million people do not have proper service. A detailed analysis...

by Rémi de BERCEGOL | On 18 Jan 2013

Social Fragmentation, Public Goods and Elections: Evidence from China

This study examines how the economic effects of elections in rural China depend on voter heterogeneity, for which religious fractionalization is taken as a proxy. [BREAD Working No. 366]. URL:[http:/...

by Gerard Padro-i- Miquel | On 09 Jan 2013

Kerala-The Land of Development Paradoxes

An attempt has been made to understand the paradoxes of Kerala's development like the state's per capita consumer expenditure is more than the per capita state domestic product. But the nutritional i...

by K.K. George | On 18 Dec 2012

The Intellectual Origins of the New Asia

Essayist, journalist and novelist Pankaj Mishra was at Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC) September 19, 2012, to discuss his new book From the Ruins of Empire: The Revolt Agains...

by Pankaj Mishra | On 07 Dec 2012

Effects of Climate Change in Asia-Pacific Region

Review of the book 'Climate Change in Asia and the Pacific: How Can Countries Adapt?' Venkatachalam Anbumozhi; Meinhard Breiling; Selvarajah Pathmarajah; Vangimalla R. Reddy (Eds) SA...

by Sunil Nautiyal | On 21 Nov 2012

Examining the Effect of Household Wealth and Migration Status on Safe Delivery Care in Urban India, 1992–2006

Although the urban health issue has been of long-standing interest to public health researchers, majority of the studies have looked upon the urban poor and migrants as distinct subgroups. Another co...

by Prashant Kumar Singh | On 24 Sep 2012

Energy Savings Potential and Policy for Energy Conservation in Selected Indian Manufacturing Industries

This paper focuses on the assessment of energy savings potential in seven highly energy consuming industries. The paper estimates the energy savings potential for each of these industries using unit l...

by Manish Gupta | On 17 Sep 2012

Costly Posturing: Relative Status, Ceremonies, and Early Child Development in China

A primary census-type panel household survey is show that in 18 villages in rural China, child health status has barely improved in the past decades despite more than double digit of annual per capita...

by Xi Chen | On 07 Sep 2012

Seasonal Effects of Water Quality on Infant and Child Health in India

This paper examines the impact of fertilizer agrichemicals in water on infant and child health using data on water quality combined with data on the health outcomes of infants and children from the ...

by Elizabeth Brainerd | On 31 Aug 2012

The Air that We Breathe: Addressing the Risks of Global Urbanization on Health

The Editors examine the lack of correlation between the size of a city and its air quality, noting that the strength of environmental laws and the accountability of the country's government have a gre...

by PLoS Medicine Editors | On 30 Aug 2012

Revisiting the Devolution of ENR Functions

The devolution of environment and natural resource functions to local government units was a bold move in the history of environmental Management in the Philippines. However, the implementation of the...

by Senate Economic Planning Office SEPO | On 28 Aug 2012

Japan’s Post-Triple-Disaster Growth Strategy

This paper discusses the scope of the many challenges and sets out a long-term strategy for overcoming them and putting the Japanese economy on a stable growth path. [Working Paper No. 376]. URL:[http...

by Masahiro Kawai | On 24 Aug 2012

Network Structure and the Aggregation of Information: Theory and Evidence from Indonesia

A unique data-set from Indonesia is analysed to understand what individuals know about the income distribution in their village to test theories such as Jackson and Rogers (2007) that link informatio...

by Vivi Alatas | On 23 Aug 2012

Issues in Development Studies in the 21st Century

Review of the book Challenges for Development in 21st Century by Ruby Ojha, B.R. Publications, 2011.

by Vibhuti Patel | On 14 Aug 2012

Environmental Changes and Ripples for Water Security in Southern States

Environmental change is regarded by many geopolitical experts as one of the biggest threats to international security in the coming years. In Southern Asia, its impact on rivers, and thus water secur...

by Dhanasree Jayaram | On 07 Aug 2012

Pilot Intervention of Improved Cook Stoves in Rural Areas: Assessment of Effects on Fuel Use, Smoke Emission and Health

This study aims to explore the impact of improved cook stoves (ICS) on fuel expenditure (consumption), smoke emission, and health of women (cook) in rural households of Bangladesh. In the follow-up...

by Nepal C. Dey | On 06 Aug 2012

‘The Education Question’ from the Perspective of Adivasis: Conditions, Policies and Structures

Drawing on secondary data, insights and ideas from an all-India consultation meet at NIAS, four regional / zonal consultations, data from a project in Chamarajanagar district (Karnataka), and select...

by P Veerbhadranaika | On 01 Aug 2012

Water, City and Urban Planning: Assessing the Role of Groundwater in Urban Development and Planning in Delhi

The paper examines the stages and patterns of urban evolution in the Delhi metropolis and its peri-urban areas and links the role of groundwater in urban development from the past to the present. Wi...

by Suresh Kumar Rohilla | On 20 Jul 2012

Conserving, Augmenting and Sharing Water

There is a huge crisis for water all around the world, certainly in India with groundwater table going down and drinking water selling almost at the rate of toned milk. That also shows that country ha...

by Anil K Gupta | On 20 Jul 2012

The Salween River Basin: Dam Cascades Threaten Biological and Cultural Diversity

F rom its headwaters in the Tibetan Plateau to its estuary in Burma, the Salween River supports over ten million people. For many decades, it was the longest free-flowing river in Southeast Asia. It...

by International Rivers Network IRN | On 17 Jul 2012

Ensuring Food and Nutrition Security in a Green Economy

What are the implications of a green economy for the poor and hungry? How can the poor benefit from and thrive under a green economy? What role can agriculture play? What are the possible trade-off...

by Shenggen Fan | On 17 Jul 2012

Three Gorges Dam: A Model of the Past

The Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River is the world’s largest and most controversial hydropower project. The 600 kilometer-long reservoir has displaced 1.3 million people and is wreaking havoc wi...

by International Rivers Network IRN | On 12 Jul 2012

Are Drone Strikes Effective in Afghanistan and Pakistan? On the Dynamics of Violence between the United States and the Taliban

Strikes by unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, have been the primary weapon used by the United States to combat the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan. This paper examines the dynamic...

by David A. Jaeger | On 01 Jun 2012

Climate Change Vulnerability of Mountain Ecosystems in the Eastern Himalayas

The ecosystem of the Eastern Himalayas are vulnerable to climate change as a result of their ecological fragility and economic marginality. The conservation policies at national and regional levels ar...

by Karma Tse-ring | On 28 May 2012

Arsenic Contamination of Groundwater in Bangladesh

Shallow groundwater with high arsenic concentrations from naturally occurring sources is the primary source of drinking water for millions of people in Bangladesh. It has resulted in a major public...

by Imran Matin | On 28 May 2012

Myths and Realities of Long-run Development: A Look at Deeper Determinants

This paper reviews the debate surrounding the “deeper determinants” of economic performance. It reviews the work of Institutional School and Geography School and their interpretation of the long-r...

by Lubna Hasan | On 24 May 2012

Financing the WASH Sector in India Cost of Provision and Budget Allocations

This paper attempts to estimate the fund requirements for the provision of water and sanitation services in rural and urban areas at the all India level as well as in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Th...

by V Ratna Reddy | On 22 May 2012

Group Norms and the BRAC Village Organization – Enhancing Social Capital Baseline

This study used social capital as an organizing framework to capture VO members’ group behaviour, and their current status along programme activities. The study compared the status of intervention...

by Nayma Qayum | On 22 May 2012

Hate Crimes in India: An Economic Analysis of Violence and Atrocities against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes

Crimes against the historically marginalized Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) by the upper castes in India represent an extreme form of prejudice and discrimination. In this paper, the ef...

by Smriti Sharma | On 16 May 2012

Up in Smoke: The Influence of Household Behavior on the Long-Run Impact of Improved Cooking Stoves

It is conventional wisdom that it is possible to reduce exposure to indoor air pollution, improve health outcomes, and decrease greenhouse gas emissions in the rural areas of developing countries thro...

by Rema Hanna | On 03 May 2012

NAC Working Group on Gender and the Sex Ratio Draft Recommendations

The NAC Working Group held three national consultations on different aspects of the issue of declining child sex ratio. The Working Group conveners also separately met with Ministry of Women and Child...

by Farah Naqvi | On 25 Apr 2012

Labour Migration and Remittances in Uttarakhand

The type, volume, and mode of transfer of remittances in Uttarakhand is analysed. The impact of remittances, in terms of both financial flows and transfer of new skills and the perceptions in relat...

by Anmol Jain | On 18 Apr 2012

Voices from the Margin: Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Northeast Thailand: Pak Mun Dam

The protests against the Pak Mun Dam are amongst the longest running in the world. The dam is also one of the most studied, in part because it had all the features of a failed development policy: no...

by Katie Jenkins | On 18 Apr 2012

Development Trajectory, Emission Profile, and Policy Actions: Thailand

Thailand has made significant progresses toward green and low-carbon development; however, there is a need to further address the issue. The country has to focus on the implementation of no-regret pol...

by Qwanruedee Chotichanathawewong | On 16 Apr 2012

Gujarat Budget 2012-13

Budget Speech by Minister of Finance. [Government of Gujarat]. URL:[http://financedepartment.gujarat.gov.in/budget12_13_pdf/FM_Speech_English_Part_A_Final.pdf].

by Ministry of Finance Government of Gujarat | On 12 Apr 2012

A Corporate Governance Index for Large Listed Companies in India

A Corporate Governance Index for 500 large listed Indian firms for the period from 2003 to 2008 is constructed. The index construction uses information on four important corporate governance mechan...

by Jayati Sarkar | On 04 Apr 2012

Assessment of Community-Based Systems Monitoring Household Welfare

The analysis of micro impacts of macroeconomic adjustment policies (MIMAP) is a relatively new discipline. It has spawned out of the concern that adjustment policies aimed to correct macroeconomic imb...

by Celia M Reyes | On 04 Apr 2012

Approaches to the Development of Renewable and Clean Energy in Brazil, China, Egypt, India and South Africa: Lessons of Emerging Countries

The populous, fast growing emerging economies of Brazil, China, Egypt, India and South Africa face daunting challenges on the energy, environment and climate change fronts. These five countries accoun...

by Kirit Parikh | On 02 Apr 2012

A Review of Input and Output Policies for Cereals Production in India

This paper reviews the key policies with regard to agriculture inputs such as seed, fertilizer, water, agricultural equipment, research, extension, and agricultural credit. It also provides an overvie...

by Ganga Shreedhar | On 29 Mar 2012

Care Seeking for Neonatal Illness in Low- and Middle- Income Countries: A Systematic Review

Despite recent achievements to reduce child mortality, neonatal deaths continue to remain high, accounting for 41% of all deaths in children under five years of age worldwide, of which over 90% occur...

by Hadley K Herbert | On 29 Mar 2012

Historical and Contemporary Factors Govern Global Biodiversity Patterns

Jetz and Fine that we are in the midst of the sixth mass extinction event on this planet and the cause is us. By achieving greater understanding of the underlying causes and correlates of current-...

by Jonathan Chase | On 29 Mar 2012

Uses and Misuses of Statistics

Statistics is used in our day to day life. Examples are there to show that statistics is misused in many. This can happen when people are information illiterate. [Address at DST-CIMS, BHU on Mar 20, 2...

by Chakrabarty K C | On 27 Mar 2012

Myanmar’s Ethnic Insurgents: UWSA, KNU and KIO

Since the elections of 2010, Myanmar’s political landscape has changed significantly; the old military junta has officially been dissolved and a new civilian government, led by President Thein Sein,...

by Christopher O’Hara | On 27 Mar 2012

Parliamentary chutzpah

The poverty line deviates from the reality. The government's redefinition is a good thing, but the danger is it won't go far enough. [BS Weekend ruminations]. URL:[http://www.business-standard.com/ind...

by T.N. Ninan | On 27 Mar 2012

Maharashtra Budget Speech 2012-13: Part II

Part of the Budget speech. [Maharashta Budget]. URL:[http://maharashtra.gov.in/pdf/english_speech_part_II.pdf].

by Maharashtra Government | On 27 Mar 2012

Tamil Nadu Budget Speech: 2012-13

Speech of Thiru O. Panneerselvam, Hon’ble Minister for Finance, Government of Tamil Nadu, presenting the Budget for the year 2012-2013 to the Legislative Assembly on 26th March, 2012. [Government...

by Tamil Nadu Government | On 27 Mar 2012

National Budget of Bhutan-2011-12

Budget speech by the Finance Minister of Bhutan. [Budget Speech]. URL:[http://www.mof.gov.bt/downloads/Budgetreport2012.pdf].

by Minister of Finance Bhutan | On 22 Mar 2012

Towards Building A Happy, Prosperous and Caring Bangladesh: Budget Speech 2011-12

Budget speech 2011-12 by Finance minister. URL:[http://www.mof.gov.bd/en/budget/11_12/budget_speech/speech_en.pdf].

by Abul Maal Abdul Muhith | On 14 Mar 2012

Final Report-Water Security and Climate Change: Challenges and Strategies

The main objectives of this seminar has been to contribute to the understanding of the development processes and problems related to water security and climate change; to focus on studies relating t...

by Gursharan Singh Kainth | On 12 Mar 2012

Agricultural Insurance in India: Problems and Prospects

The challenges of providing insurance to Indian agricultural sector in a manner that is both meaningful and sustaining. Critical assessment of the existing initiative and present possible options fo...

by M J Bhende | On 09 Mar 2012

Asia’s Wicked Environmental Problems

The developing economies of Asia are confronted by serious environmental problems that threaten to undermine future growth, food security, and regional stability. This study considers four major envir...

by Stephen Howes | On 06 Mar 2012

Issues and Challenges with the Philippines' Public Corporate Sector

Government-ownedand- controlled corporations were initially created as solutions to market imperfections. It is ironic therefore, that in recent years, they have come to be seen as problems t...

by Senate Economic Planning Office SEPO | On 06 Mar 2012

Taiwan’s Role in the Breakout of the Taiwan Strait Crises: A Historical Perspective

The implications of the rule of Chiang Kai-shek and his son Chiang Ching-kuo in Taiwan (1950–1988) for the Taiwan Strait Crises is examined, especially the third one af??ter the Cold War and potenti...

by Lu Jinghua | On 05 Mar 2012

On the Road: Access to Transportation Infrastructure and Economic Growth in China

This paper estimates the effect of access to transportation networks on regional economic outcomes in China over a twenty-period of rapid income growth. It addresses the problem of the endogenous pl...

by Abhijit Banerjee | On 02 Mar 2012

Working of Livestock Exchange Markets in Rajasthan

Livestock sector is an integral part of India’s agriculture and an important part of the whole economy with reference to employment, income and earning of foreign exchange for the country. The growth...

by Ministry of Agriculture GOI | On 01 Mar 2012

Archival Research on Hunter-Gatherers´ Religions in Borneo

This research focuses on religious changes among hunter-gatherers in Borneo. A two month archival research was carried out that will be used in the understanding of the relationship between traditi...

by Gotzone Gray | On 28 Feb 2012

Wastewater Irrigation, Heavy Metals and the Profitability of Rice Cultivation – Investigating the East Calcutta Wetlands in India

In India, as in many developing countries, wastewater is often used to irrigate crops. This undoubtedly helps to recycle useful nutrients through the food chain, but, as there can be toxic chemicals...

by Vivekananda Mukherjee | On 27 Feb 2012

Saving Mumbai

What Mumbai needs as a starting point is a city administration that is accountable to the city's residents, and a directly elected mayor, as in all great cities of the world. [BS Weekend Ruminations]....

by T.N. Ninan | On 22 Feb 2012

Whither Human Capital? The Woeful Tale of Transition to Tertiary Education in India

In this paper the issue of high dropout rates in India is examined which has adverse implications for human capital formation, and hence for the country’s long term growth potential. Using the 2004-0...

by Manisha Chakrabarty | On 14 Feb 2012

The Financial Structure and Performance of Philippine Credit Cooperatives

This study is an attempt to assess the importance and potential impact of any further development of the credit cooperative sector; identify development interventions that will result in a strong Fil...

by Gilberto M Llanto | On 13 Feb 2012

Selling Formal Insurance to the Informally Insured

Unpredictable rainfall is an important risk for agricultural activity, and farmers in developing countries often receive incomplete insurance from informal risk-sharing networks. The demand for, and...

by A. Mushfiq Mobarak | On 10 Feb 2012

Total Sanitation Campaign - Progress and Issues: Situational Analysis of Andhra Pradesh with reference to Total Sanitation Campaign

This paper has tried to address some key research questions like will India and Andhra Pradesh achieve the Millennium Development Goal of Sanitation ? Are the TSC targets realistic? What is coverage...

by M Snehalatha | On 25 Jan 2012

Environmental Sustainability and Strategic Stakeholder Management: The Coca-Cola Company in Turkey and Water Management

The future of almost any business depends on the sustainability of water resources. One of the global corporations using high amount of water during its production process and also a bottled water man...

by Inci Cinarli | On 22 Jan 2012

Antiques and Adat: The Changing Face of Paka’s Mini-museum, Kampung Benuk, Penrissen, Kuching

This paper is an account of recent developments at Paka's mini-museum, which culminated in the production of English text panels for its collection in March 2005. As it turned out, working on these...

by Liana Chua | On 19 Jan 2012

Peer Effects, Risk Pooling, and Status Seeking: What Explains Gift Spending Escalation in Rural China?

It has been widely documented that the poor spend a significant proportion of their income on gifts even at the expense of basic consumption. We test three competing explanations of this phenomenon—pe...

by Xi Chen | On 10 Jan 2012

Report of the Task Force on Irrigation

The Task Force has identified that there is a need to re-assess the ultimate irrigation potential in the country. The report identifies that there is a need to increase irrigation efficiency and has s...

by Planning Commission | On 06 Jan 2012

State Focus Paper 2012-13: Karnataka

The State Focus Paper (SFP) consolidates the PLPs of all the 30 districts and highlights the potential for flow of credit to various sectors in agriculture and rural development. The credit potential...

by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Devt NABARD | On 06 Jan 2012

An Adaptive Probabilistic Model for Broadcasting in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

Ad hoc peer-to-peer mobile phone networks (phone MANETs) enable cheap village level telephony for cash-strapped, off-the-grid communities. Broadcasting is a fundamental operation in such manets and...

by Kavitha Ranganathan | On 04 Jan 2012

The Unseen Skills of the Dalit Population

Review of the book Post-Hindu India: A Discourse on Dalit-Bahujan, Socio-Spiritual and Scientific Revolution, Kancha Ilaiah SAGE India, New Delhi 2009, Rs 295/-, pp 340.

by Vaijayanta Anand | On 03 Jan 2012

Turning the Tide: Improving Water Resource Management in the Philippines

Water is arguably the most important natural resource and because it is scarce, its optimal usage and proper management must be ensured. Water governance in the Philippines, however, has becom...

by Senate Economic Planning Office SEPO | On 03 Jan 2012

The Broken Broker System? Transacting on Agricultural Wholesale Markets in India (Uttarakhand)

The focus is on the central role played by state-regulated commission agents, known as brokers: agents who are widely present in Indian markets to assist sellers in finding buyers through organizing a...

by Bart Minten | On 29 Dec 2011

Changes in the Use of Safe Water and Water Safety Measures in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Intervention Areas of Bangladesh: A Midline Assessment

The BRAC Water, Sanitation and Hygiene programme reached 150 upazilas in collaboration with the Government of Bangladesh since 2006. This study assessed the changes in the use of tubewell water and w...

by Nepal C. Dey | On 28 Dec 2011

Will Neoliberal Policies Resolve Water Sector Dilemmas? Learnings from Maharashtra and Gujarat

This paper examines how the neoliberal policies have influenced the water sector reform policies and interventions in India, particularly, in the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat. In doing so, the...

by Viswanathan P K | On 26 Dec 2011

Root Problem: Labour Laws

Delivering the third Business Standard lecture on Thursday night, Raghuram Rajan provided an interesting insight into the reason for high inflation in India. The professor of finance at Chicago, who i...

by T.N. Ninan | On 23 Dec 2011

Seasonal Migration and Risk Aversion

Pre-harvest lean seasons are widespread in the agrarian areas of Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Every year, these seasonal famines force millions of people to succumb to poverty and hunger. An incentive...

by Gharad Bryan | On 20 Dec 2011

Exposing the Plight of Farmers in Punjab

Review of the book 'Debt and Death in Rural India: The Punjab Story' by Aman Sidhu and Inderjit Singh Jaijee Sage Publications India, New Delhi, 2011, Rs 750/-, pp 360.

by Gursharan Singh Kainth | On 13 Dec 2011

Toxicity and Profitability of Rice Cultivation under Waste- Water Irrigation: The Case of the East Calcutta Wetlands

The paper reports the results of an empirical study on the profitability of rice cultivation in the East Calcutta Wetlands region where untreated sewage water from the city of Calcutta, India, is us...

by Vivekananda Mukherjee | On 13 Dec 2011

Indigenous Communities, Cooperation, and Communication: Taking Experiments to the Field

A series of common-pool-resource field experiments were conducted in eight indigenous communities in India that have very long traditions of shared norms and mutual trust. Two experimental designs a...

by Rucha Ghate | On 02 Dec 2011

Rejigging the Elephant Dance

India's development challenges. The India growth story was thrown off track by the global financial crisis which engulfed virtually every country in the world. We recovered from the crisis sooner than...

by Duvvuri Subbarao | On 30 Nov 2011

How Are Markets Made?

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the making of markets. The paper identifies two ideal-typical processes in which markets are made – organized making and spontaneous making – which are often...

by Patrik Aspers | On 29 Nov 2011

Publishing Construction Contracts as a Tool for Efficiency and Good Governance

Construction is a $1.7 trillion industry worldwide, much of which is linked to publicly financed projects. Outcomes from this financing are frequently suboptimal. Cost and time escalation, as well a...

by Charles Kenny | On 25 Nov 2011

Draft of combined Fourth and Fifth Periodic Reports of India to CEDAW

This Report covers developments in implementation of the Convention in India from 2006 to 2011. The harmonised guidelines for preparation of Common Core Document and the reporting Guidelines of the...

by Government of India Ministry of Women and Child Development | On 25 Nov 2011

The Politics of Water Discourse in Pakistan

The policy brief explores the evolving discourse on water issues in Pakistan where the process of political articulation, securitization and mobilization which often links water to Kashmir is studied....

by Medha Bisht | On 24 Nov 2011

Final Report of the Task Force on Domestic Workers: Realising Decent Work

This report presents the results of the deliberations of the Task Force. Section one provides the background. Section two presents the status of the implementation of March 2010 recomme...

by Ministry of Labour and Employment MoL&E | On 18 Nov 2011

Where is the Virtue in the Middle Class?

It is widely agreed by economists and political scientists that the middle class is vital to progress because of its many virtues. But it is difficult to define a middle class by income in a manner t...

by Charles Kenny | On 16 Nov 2011

Cost Effectiveness of Interactive Radio Instruction Program Karnataka: Basic and Program Cost Effectiveness

The Program CEA extends to the study to an impact analysis of the Radio programs to assess whether the expenditure being made for this intervention is helping the students in improving their learnin...

by Shubhashansha Bakshi | On 16 Nov 2011

Equity in the Time of Recession: Mumbai Youth Struggle to Bridge Yawning Opportunity Gap

Mumbai is the capital of Maharashtra, a large highly industrialised, progressive state that until a decade ago, reported remarkable progress on social and economic indices. Today, it is still a leadi...

by eSocialSciences eSS | On 11 Nov 2011

Energy Intensity and Firm Performance: Do Energy Clusters Matter?

In analyzing this phenomenon for Indian manufacturing industries, this study tries to find out the determinants of profitability of firms based on three energy clusters (natural gas, petroleum, coal)...

by Santosh Kumar Sahu | On 10 Nov 2011

Brand India: No Equity for Children

India has embarked upon an economic model driven by the free market incorporating processes of liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation. Our children today live, in what some describe as “Brand...

by HAQ Centre for Child Rights HAQCRC | On 10 Nov 2011

Financing Infrastructure for Connectivity: Policy Implications for Asia

This paper discusses Asia’s infrastructure needs and its corresponding financing needs and challenges. It proposes ways to address financing gaps by identifying potential financing sources and instr...

by Biswa Nath Bhattacharyay | On 09 Nov 2011

The Determinants of Export Performance of China's Township-Village Enterprises

The rapid export growth of China's township-village enterprises (TVEs) has not been well understood and explained. Using a simple analytical model and exploring a unique dataset on China's TVEs the...

by Changqi Wu | On 08 Nov 2011

"Ramanujan's Essay Depicts Multiplicity of Views Through Many Ramayanas."

The deletion of Three Hundred Ramayanas from B.A. History course of Delhi University. Professor Biswamoy Pati of History Department of D.U. calls this intolerance a dangerous trend. Video interview o...

by Jyotsna Singh | On 02 Nov 2011

Agriculture, Food, and Water Nanotechnologies for the Poor: Opportunities and Constraints

This brief presents a review of the potential opportunities and challenges of using nanotech applications for agriculture, food, and water in developing countries. [IFPRI Policy Brief 19]. URL:[http...

by Guillaume Gruère | On 01 Nov 2011

Complex, Historical, Self-reflexive: Expect the Unexpected!

The object world of the social sciences is complex, historical and self-reflexive. It generates nonlinear effects, it is unique, and it is able to understand the theories developed about it and resp...

by Sandra Mitchell | On 01 Nov 2011

Teaching How to Bridge Neuroscience, Society, and Culture

In most universities, sharp disciplinary and departmental divisions continue to this day and have regrettably translated into the life sciences being taught with scarce attention to their historical a...

by Giovanni Frazzetto | On 31 Oct 2011

Does Greater Autonomy Improve Performance? Evidence from Water Service Providers in Indian Cities?

The efficiency of urban water supply in 27 Indian cities are analyzed using data envelopment analysis (DEA). Cities are grouped by the management structure of their water utilities. Utilities with g...

by Shreekant Gupta | On 24 Oct 2011

Environmental Journalism in South Asia

Book review 'The Green pen: Environmental Journalism in India and South Asia' by Keya Acharya and Frederick Noronha (eds) Sage, 2010, page 312, Rs 395.

by Vrijendra | On 19 Oct 2011

Transactions Matter but They Hardly Cost: Irrigation Management in the Kathmandu Valley

This study estimates the transaction costs entailed in maintaining Farmer Managed Irrigation Systems (FMIS) in Nepal based on a case study of 60 irrigation systems in the Kathmandu valley. It analyz...

by Ram Chandra Bhattarai | On 18 Oct 2011

Does Participatory Development Legitimise Collusion Mechanisms? Evidence from Karnataka Watershed Development Agency

While examining participatory development projects, existing contributions have demonstrated how aid resources are often captured by local elites. This paper hypothesises that another possible source...

by G.Ananda Vadivelu | On 18 Oct 2011

History Matters: China and Global Governance

This paper focuses on the two-way relationship between China and the international economic system. China’s embrace of the global institutions and their rules and norms helped guide its spectacular ec...

by Wendy Dobson | On 17 Oct 2011

From Monasteries to Multinationals (and Back): A Historical Review of the Beer Economy

This article reviews beer production, consumption and the industrial organization of breweries throughout history. Monasteries were the centers of the beer economy in the early Middle Ages. Innovation...

by Eline Poelmans | On 14 Oct 2011

Paraiyans’ Self-assertion for Identity

Review of Nandanar’s Children: The Paraiyans’ Tryst with Destiny Tamil Nadu 1850—1956, Raj Sekhar Basu, Sage India, New Delhi, 2011, 492 pp, Rs 895

by Rajesh Komath | On 11 Oct 2011

Urban Transport Sustainability Indicators – Application of Multi-view Black-box (MVBB) Framework

In a recent work Nathan and Reddy (2011a) have proposed a Multi-view Black-box (MVBB) framework for development of sustainable development indicators (SDIs) for an urban setup. The framework is flex...

by Hippu Salk Kristle Nathan | On 10 Oct 2011

Got Water? Social Divisions and Access to Public Goods in Rural India

Data for 436 rural districts has been used from the 2001 Census of India to examine whether different aspects of social divisions help explain the wide variation in access to tap water across rural In...

by Divya Balasubramaniam | On 07 Oct 2011

Valuing the Recreational Uses of Pakistan’s Wetlands: An Application of the Travel Cost Method

This study applies a single-site truncated count data travel cost model in order to estimate the value visitors place on recreation in Keenjhar. The recreational use value associated with Keenjhar...

by Ali Dehlavi | On 27 Sep 2011

Estimating Urban and Rural Incomes in Gujarat: 1993-94 to 2004-05

Income originating within geographical boundaries of urban and rural areas of Gujarat is estimated for three benchmark years – 1993-94, 1999-00 and 2004-05 - at current prices following the broad me...

by Ravindra H Dholakia | On 26 Sep 2011

Does the System of Rice Intensification Outperform Conventional System? A Case Study of Gujarat

The paper examines the farm level performance of System of Rice Intensification (SRI) method of paddy cultivation as against the traditional method. The role of NGOs in raising awareness among farmers...

by Jharna Pathak | On 22 Sep 2011

National Policy for Senior Citizens: 2011

The foundation of the new policy, known as the “National Policy for Senior Citizens 2011” is based on several factors. These include the demographic explosion among the elderly, the changing economy a...

by Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment GOI | On 19 Sep 2011

History of Monetary Policy in India since Independence

An SIIO paradigm, based on structure and ideas that become engraved in institutions and affect outcomes, is developed to examine and assesses monetary policy in India after independence. Narrative h...

by Ashima Goyal | On 16 Sep 2011

Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries

How does innovation impact on development? How, and under what conditions, do entrepreneurs in developing countries innovate? And what can be done to support innovation by entrepreneurs in develo...

by Wim Naude | On 16 Sep 2011

Agrofuels – A Boost of Energy for the Mekong Region?

This background paper seeks to brief readers on the extent of the development, production and consumption of agrofuels, particularly liquid fuels for transport, in the Mekong region. The area of focu...

by Rebeca Leonard | On 12 Sep 2011

The Land Acquisition Bill: A Critique and a Proposal

The new Bill on land acquisition recently tabled in Parliament is well intentioned but seriously flawed. Its principal defect is that it attaches an arbitrary mark-up to the historical market price to...

by Maitreesh Ghatak | On 12 Sep 2011

Why Big Dams are the Wrong Response to Climate Change

International Rivers strongly supports policy measures that can promote a rapid expansion of renewable energy sources. But these measures need to be based on a holistic understanding of sustainabili...

by International Rivers Network IRN | On 07 Sep 2011

Research Study on Role of Tribal Women Wage Earner in Ensuring Family Food Security in Scheduled Areas of Rajasthan in Changing Environmental and Economic Scenario

The project aimed to find the reasons for bottlenecks in the present system that deprive the tribal community of the benefit of schemes. Five villages from each block have been selected to make tot...

by Maharana Pratap Adhyayan Evam Jan Kalyan Sansthan Jaipur | On 02 Sep 2011

Evolution of Property Rights Regimes in the Groundwater Economy of India-Constraints on Moving Towards a Common Property Regime

The paper paper reviews the 'model' central and state government bills, pertaining to groundwater, through a conceptual framework and discusses the Andhra Pradesh experience in the developing governme...

by G.Ananda Vadivelu | On 30 Aug 2011

Infrastructure Investment and Regional Economic Growth: A Case Study of Maharashtra

The study initially reviews the infrastructure facilities for the 33 districts of Maharashtra for one year i.e.1999-2000. Using this, the extent of disparities between these regions is found. Further...

by A M Swaminathan | On 29 Aug 2011

Institutional Innovations and Models in the Development of Agro-Food Industries in India: Strengths, Weaknesses and Lessons

Agro-industries are given high priority in India particularly because of their great potential for contributing to development. The emphasis on village-based agro-industries was introduced almost a...

by Vasant P Gandhi | On 29 Aug 2011

Trans-border Identities: (A Study on the Impact of Bangladeshi and Nepali Migration to India)

This paper deals with migration into India from adjoining neighbours and its impact on security and other issues of national interest. Unlike other studies on migration, it focuses on the ethnic ident...

by Subhakanta Behera | On 26 Aug 2011

Objects and Accomplishments of Participatory Irrigation Management Programme in India: An Open Pair of Scissors

Participatory irrigation management programme as a prelude to irrigation management transfer to users is being set up by many states for over five years now. Though it is recognized that the governm...

by R Parthasarathy | On 25 Aug 2011

Reforms in Indian Agro-processing and Agriculture Sectors in the Context of Unilateral and Multilateral Trade Agreements

In this paper, the potential impacts of trade and investment-related policy reforms on India’s agro-processing sector is explored. The direct effects of policy reforms within the processing sector, an...

by A. Ganesh-Kumar | On 22 Aug 2011

Predicting Recessions and Slowdowns: A Robust Approach

This paper defines business and growth rate cycles and describes the importance of key coincident indicators and reference chronologies, following reflections on the definition of a recession. The rob...

by Pami Dua | On 18 Aug 2011

Identifying Systemically Important Financial Institutions (SIFIs)

In this study the analytical framework for identifying and benchmarking systemically important financial institutions is discussed. First, the main concepts underlying the SIFI definition are laid out...

by Christian Weistroffer | On 12 Aug 2011

High-Value Agriculture in India: Past Trends and Future Prospects

Given the declining share of traditional agricultural commodities in production, consumption and trade, horticulture and other non-traditional high-value agriculture represent an important area of p...

by Vijay Paul Sharma | On 09 Aug 2011

Audit Report on XIXth Common Wealth Games 2010

The current audit builds on the recommendations of the Stuy Report of 2009. It covers the period of May 2003 to December 2010 after the conclusion of the Games. It also covers hosting of the Games dev...

by Parliamentary Research Service PRS | On 09 Aug 2011

Distress Situation in Dryland Areas Impacts on Livelihood Pattern and the Coping Strategies: A Review

This paper is a review of the different coping mechanisms adopted by the households in different dryland area of India. The primary focus of the present paper is to understand the coping mechanisms...

by Nikhil Govind | On 05 Aug 2011

Financial Inclusion in India: A case-study of West Bengal

The study seeks to examine the extent of financial inclusion in West Bengal. It is observed from the study that although there has been an improvement in outreach activity in the banking sector, the...

by Sadhan Kumar Chattopadhyay | On 03 Aug 2011

Chronic Poverty in South West Madhya Pradesh: A Multidimensional Analysis of its Extent and Causes

The structuralist perspective envisages poverty, especially in rural India, as a long duration phenomenon. Over time, most of the structural features of poverty have remained more or less intact. As a...

by Amita Shah | On 02 Aug 2011

Transfer Paths and Academic Performance: The Primary School Merger Program in China

In this paper, the overall goal is to examine the impact of the Rural Primary School Merger Program on academic performance of students using a dataset from a survey that we designed to reflect tran...

by Alexis Medina | On 27 Jul 2011

Provisional Population Totals: Rural Urban Distribution India: Series I

The rural-urban distribution of the population is shown. URL:[http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/paper2/data_files/india/paper2_1.pdf].

by | On 21 Jul 2011

Final Report on the Functioning of Anganwadi Centres in Assam and Meghalya

In the states of Assam and Meghalaya the ICDS project has been in operation since 1980. Assam and Meghalaya have a total of 26,000 AWCs of which 2,218 are located in seven districts of Meghalaya and t...

by Government of India Ministry of Women and Child Development | On 19 Jul 2011

Beer Drinking Nations: The Determinants of Global Beer Consumption

In this paper the evolution of beer consumption is analyzed between countries and over time. Historically, there have been major changes in beer consumption in the world. In recent times, per capita...

by Liesbeth Colen | On 18 Jul 2011

Inter-State Imbalances in Essential Services: Some Perspectives

This paper analyzes the inter-state imbalances in three major sectors of the economy, namely, education, health and family welfare, and water supply and sanitation for fifteen major states. It uses...

by C Bhujanga Rao | On 14 Jul 2011

Environmental Regulations, Air and Water Pollution, and Infant Mortality in India

Using the most comprehensive data file ever compiled on air pollution, water pollution, environmental regulations, and infant mortality from a developing country, the paper examines the effectivenes...

by Michael Greenstone | On 11 Jul 2011

Socio-Economic Characteristics of the Tall and not so Tall Women of India

New studies are increasingly appearing based on historical data across the world that better socio-economic status is associated with taller men and women. This study based on a recent Indian data ana...

by Brinda Viswanathan | On 08 Jul 2011

Groundwater: Development, Degradation and Management (A Study of Andhra Pradesh)

This study attempts to highlight the importance of hydrological information to the user communities from a socio-economic perspective. It shows, based on the evidence, how groundwater is depleting a...

by M Srinivasa Reddy | On 06 Jul 2011

Commons And Community: Evidence From Southwestern Tribal Belt Of Madhya Pradesh

Sah and Shah (2003) have shown that the incidence of poverty in the South-Western tribal belt of Madhya Pradesh is alarmingly high. About three fifths of the households in this tribal belt were catego...

by D.C. Sah | On 04 Jul 2011

Public Infrastructure Investment and Non-Market Work in India: Selective Evidence from Time Use Data

Theory of allocation of time revealed that historically market-time has never consistently been greater than the non-market time and therefore the allocation and efficiency of latter may be equally...

by Lekha S. Chakraborty | On 29 Jun 2011

The Electric Energy-Water Nexus: Managing the Seasonal Linkages of Fresh Water Use in Energy Sector for Sustainable Future

The fast growing demand for fresh water-coupled with the need to protect the environment has made many areas of India and the rest of the World vulnerable to water shortages for various uses of the ...

by Perini Praveena Sri | On 29 Jun 2011

Poverty and Natural Resources: Understanding the Dynamics in the Content of Dryland Regions in Western India

The interface between environment and poverty is a complex phenomenon. Poverty reduction needs will be enabled if the poor are allowed access to natural capital, such as land, water, forest and minera...

by Amita Shah | On 23 Jun 2011

The Arc of the Jubilee

The Jubilee 2000 movement, which called for the cancellation of the foreign debts of the poorest nations, reached its zenith in the late 1990s and 2000—and then, by design, shut down. In the space of...

by David Roodman | On 22 Jun 2011

Participatory Forest Management: Collective Action Under Three Different Institutional Regimes

Community Forestry in India is characterized broadly by the presence of three different types of institutional structures aimed at promoting common property regimes- self-initiated efforts, NGO- promo...

by Rucha Ghate | On 15 Jun 2011

Basic Hygiene Can Beat Diarrhoea - A Lesson From the Slums of Dhaka

Diarrhoea is a common water-borne disease amongst slum children in Bangladesh and is one of the five leading causes of infant illness and death in the country. Now, a new SANDEE study has looked at...

by South Asian Network for Development and Environmen Economics | On 14 Jun 2011

Monitoring Pesticides in Vegetables and the Environment in Meerut District

Farmers in Meerut many pesticides wich are banned in West due to their carcinogenic characteristics. PSI’s staff, accompanied by the staff of Janhit Foundation, collected soil and vegetable samples fr...

by People's Science Institute PSI | On 07 Jun 2011

Adoption of Safe Drinking Water Practices: Does Awareness of Health Effects Matter?

The demand for environment quality - clean air, potable water, sanitation, food - is often presumed to be low in developing countries due to poverty. A recent SANDEE study demonstrates that awareness...

by E. Somanathan | On 06 Jun 2011

History Revisited: Narratives on Political and Constitutional Changes in Kashmir (1947-1990)

One of the main conflicts prevailing in South Asia today is that of the row over Kashmir. The long history of the conflict, the states involved in the conflict and its geo-political position has...

by Khalid Wasim Hassan | On 26 May 2011

Book Review: Kale on Menon 'Women of the Hindu Right'

Everyday Nationalism: Women of the Hindu Right in India Kalyani Devaki Menon; University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia; 224 pp. $49.95(cloth). [H-Net Reviews.https://www.h-net.org/reviews/s...

by Sunila S. Kale | On 17 May 2011

Guidelines for National Lake Conservation Plan

Lakes are an important feature of the Earth’s landscape. They are not only a significant source of precious water, but often provide valuable habitats to plants and animals, moderate the hydrologica...

by Ministry of Environment and Forests | On 11 May 2011

History in Bengali Literature: A Study of Selected Bengali Novels

Great novelists through their writings placed the history of the Indian national and social awakening movement in literature.The context of this article is great three novels of three great littérat...

by Sarmistha Ghoshal | On 09 May 2011

Which Type of Stove is Best? An Environmental Impact Assessment from Nepal

This study investigates whether the type of cook stove a household uses has an impact on its level of firewood use. Not surprisingly, the study finds that households with traditional mud stoves use...

by Mani Nepal | On 05 May 2011

A Review of India's Industrial Policy and Performance

When India’s industrial policy chronicle is reviewed, it is found that the country has mainly followed three regimes after independence. These are the planned or controlled period till the end of th...

by G Burange | On 02 May 2011

Deregulation of Savings Bank Deposit Interest Rate: A Discussion Paper

The paper is an attempt to deal with pros and cons of deregulating savings deposit interest rate and take on board the suggestions of various stakeholders for either maintaining the status quo or dere...

by Reserve Bank of India RBI | On 02 May 2011

Community Management is Good for Forests: Results from a Field Experiment in India

The study looks at the relationship between indigenous people and their forest homes using a novel field field experiments approach. [Policy Brief No. 48-10]. URL:[http://www.sandeeonline.org/upload...

by South Asian Network for Development SANDEE | On 29 Apr 2011

The Quality of Medical Care in Low-Income Countries: From Providers to Markets

The excellent systematic review in this week’s PLoS Medicine by Paul Garner and colleagues focuses discussion on this critical issue. Their finding of poor quality in both the public and private s...

by Jishnu Das | On 29 Apr 2011

Report of the Task Force on Credit Related Issues of Farmers

The Task Force visited 45 villages across 17 states and held state and regional level consultations to understand from women and men farmers, bankers, civil society, academicians, planners, activists,...

by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Devt NABARD | On 27 Apr 2011

Van Panchayats in Three Villages: Dependency and Access

This particular field study is concerned with Van Panchayats, which can be seen as a variant of Common Property Resources. A comparison of the efficacy of this specific CPR across three villages in U...

by Chandana Anusha | On 27 Apr 2011

Issues for Approach to the 12th Five Year Plan

GDP growth likely to average 8.2 per cent over 11th Plan: short of the 9% target, but remarkable given the global crisis and drought. Basic objective : Faster, More Inclusive, and Sustainable Growth ...

by Planning Commission | On 25 Apr 2011

Characteristics and Patterns of Intergenerational Poverty Traps and Escapes in Rural North India

The paper examines the poverty status of 4,198 households resident in 18 villages of Rajasthan, India, at four points of time between 1977 to 2010 using retrospective methodology known as Stages of Pr...

by Anirudh Krishna | On 20 Apr 2011

Do Local Elections in Non-Democracies Increase Accountability? Evidence from Rural China

Unique survey data is used to study whether the introduction of local elections in China made local leaders more accountable towards local constituents. A simple model is developed to predict the e...

by Monica Martinez Bravo | On 18 Apr 2011

An Alternative to Conventional Public Water Service: "User Group Networks" in a Mumbai Slum

This article is a research on the water services available in north eastern parts of Mumbai. It aims as highlighting the ability of communities to design and run functional systems to overcome the sho...

by Rémi de BERCEGOL | On 08 Apr 2011

Delhi Fails to Protect its Children

Can Delhi really hold its head high when it cannot even protect its own children? URL: [http://www.haqcrc.org/sites/default/files/Delhi%20Fails%20to%20Protect%20its%20Children_BfC%202011-12(2).pdf]

by HAQ Centre for Child Rights HAQCRC | On 30 Mar 2011

Socio-Economic and Ecological Benefits of Mangrove Plantation: A Study of Community Based Mangrove Restoration Activities in Gujarat

A comprehensive assessment of the multiple benefits of mangrove ecosystems and their restoration efforts in Gujarat is made. The study is important and contextual as there are very limited empirical...

by P.K. Viswanathan | On 29 Mar 2011

Of Human Bondage: An Account of Hostage Taking in Bastar

An event of great political and historical significance occurred on 11 February 2011 inside the dense forests of Abujhmad in Chhattisgarh with the CPI (Maoist) releasing five policemen of Chhatti...

by People's Union for Democratic Rights PUDR | On 29 Mar 2011

Cabinet Approves Bill to Protect Children Against Sexual Crimes

The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved a watershed bill to protect children below the age of 16 against sexual offences, aimed at speedy trail through special courts and having a legal regime at par w...

by Chetan Chauhan | On 26 Mar 2011

Out of World Crisis through Innovations

The paper examines the situation of financial crisis prevailing in the world economy and its impact on urbanization and development. URL: [http://www.fgks.in/event/Pardos.pdf]

by Françoise Pardos | On 24 Mar 2011

‘Spatial Poverty Traps: What Are They and What Can Be Done About Them?'

This paper demonstrates how urban spatial poverty traps exist in developing countries and makes the case for including an urban focus to spatial poverty analysis and policy responses. It frames this w...

by Ursula Grant | On 23 Mar 2011

Legacy of the Gandhian Approaches: Vinoba to Obama

Centre for Gandhian Studies of K.J.Somaiya College of Arts and Commerce organized One-day Seminar on the Legacy of the Gandhian Approaches: Vinoba to Obama on 24 February, 2011.

by Hemali Sanghavi | On 22 Mar 2011

Unfavourable Environment and Chronic Poverty: Some Preliminary Findings

Poverty has different and varying manifestations. In fact, Hulme et al (2001) proposes a five-tiered categorisation of poverty. This identifies the always poor, usually poor, churning poor, occasional...

by Quazi Shahabuddin | On 22 Mar 2011

Book Review: Power, Identity, and Moral Order in the Indian Railway

Lines of the Nation: Indian Railway Workers, Bureaucracy, and the Intimate Historical Self by Laura Bear. The Culture of History Series, Columbia University Press, New York 2007. 360 pp. $49.00 (cloth...

by David A. Campion | On 22 Mar 2011

Protecting Rivers and Rights: The World Commission on Dams Recommendations in Action

The briefing kit highlights key examples of policies, regulations and laws that reflect these WCD recommendations and references specific projects that demonstrate them in action. [IRN brief]. URL:...

by International Rivers Network IRN | On 17 Mar 2011

Strategies and Recommendations for River Basin Management in Tungabhadra

In the Tungabhadra sub basin (TBSB), Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) is currently seen in a number of smaller initiatives at local scale. The concept of integration is new in water secto...

by Institute for Social and Economic Change | On 17 Mar 2011

Managing Common Pool Resources for Poverty Reduction in Tribal Areas of Eastern India

The main objectives of the study were to analyze the role of non-timber forest products in poverty alleviation in Chhattisgarh; to examine the system of governance, institutional framework and prog...

by R S Deshpande | On 17 Mar 2011

Multiple Dimension of Urban Well-Being: Evidence from India

This paper addresses differences in outcomes across households residing in slums and non-slum urban areas of India. Using a nationally representative household data set, they undertake a robust mult...

by S. Chandrasekhar | On 16 Mar 2011

Ground Water Pollution and Emerging Environmental Challenges of Industrial Effluent Irrigation: A Case Study of Mettupalayam Taluk, Tamilnadu

Industrial disposal of effluents on land and subsequent pollution of groundwater and soil of surrounding farmlands – is a relatively new area of research. Environmental and socio-economic aspects of i...

by Sacchidananda Mukherjee | On 08 Mar 2011

Preservation of Lakes in the City of Bangalore

The Karnataka High Court, while hearing a public interest litigation on the state of lakes and waterbodies in and around Bangalore, constituted a ten-member commitee under the chair of the high court...

by N. K Patil | On 04 Mar 2011

An Ethnobiography of Teyyam Performance from a Practitioner’s Perspective

Rajesh Komath gives a description the conflicts between his socio-material position as a Teyyam performer, and persona/personality as a student of economics.

by Smriti Vohra | On 26 Feb 2011

Economic Growth and the Rise of Forests

Although forests have diminished globally over the past 400 years, forest cover has increased in some areas, including India in the last two decades. Aggregate time-series evidence on forest growth...

by Mark Rosenzweig | On 25 Feb 2011

Are Citizens’ Right of Access to Water Safe in Karnataka? Report on visit of US Water Trade Mission

The People’s Campaign for Right to Water and the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha question the hush-hush US Water Trade Mission’s ( with 16 American corporations) visit to Bangalore next week with inte...

by People’s Campaign for Right to Water PCRW | On 25 Feb 2011

Report to the People on Environment and Forests: 2009-2010

The present report aims to generate greater awareness and environmental consciousness amongst our citizens. The objective of the report, therefore, is to generate a national debate among various s...

by Ministry of Environment and Forests GOI | On 16 Feb 2011

Moving Towards Right to Health Care

This a policy brief of the Right to Health.

by ... CEHAT | On 15 Feb 2011

Financing of Disease Control Programs in India

The report analyzes the present case scenario of the disease control programs in India.

by Ravi Duggal | On 15 Feb 2011

Valuing the Environment in Developing Countries: Modeling the Impact of Distrust in Public Authorities’ Ability to Deliver on the Citizens’ Willingness to Pay for Improved Environmental Quality

This paper employs the choice experiment method to estimate local  citizens’ valuation of a public intervention which proposes to improve the  quality of an important environmental resource, namel...

by Ekin Birol | On 09 Feb 2011

Democracy and Decentralisation: a Study of Local Budgets in two Districts of Karnataka

The aim of this paper is to study the devolution of finances in Karnataka. For facilitating the study the budgets of Zilla Panchayats of four districts are analyzed and also development of these regio...

by A. Indira | On 07 Feb 2011

Modern Indian Business History: A Bibliographic Survey

The paper aimed at presenting a comprehensive account of the books of the following types: viz. general business histories; industrial histories; in-house histories of different companies; souvenirs...

by N. Benjamin | On 07 Feb 2011

The Homeland: Thinking About the History of Chinese Overseas

Is there a history of the Chinese overseas? If there is such a single history, how does it square with the fact that migration has brought Chinese into numerous non-Chinese societies, where their “his...

by Philip A. Kuhn | On 02 Feb 2011

Bright Lines, Risk Beliefs, and Risk Avoidance: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment in Bangladesh

43 villages in Bangladesh were randomized to receive information on well-water arsenic that emphasized water safety relative to the national standard (bright-line message) or provided additional infor...

by Lori Bennear | On 02 Feb 2011

Women's Movements Engagement With the Law: Existing Contradictions and Emerging Challenges

Through over a century-long history, the women’s movement in India has been engaged with law as an instrument with which to negotiate women’s rights. To a great extent this strategy has been successf...

by Centre for Women's Development Studies | On 31 Jan 2011

Voluntary Contribution in the Field: An Experiment in the Indian Himalayas

In this paper is a study of trend of voluntary contribution for community services in the Indian Himalayan region. The study is done by using an experimental game method of face-to-face communication...

by Sujoy Chakravarty | On 25 Jan 2011

WASH Programme of BRAC: Towards Attaining the MDG Targets: Baseline Findings

The combination of safe drinking water and hygienic sanitation facilities is a precondition for health and for success in the fight against poverty, hunger, child death, and gender inequality. It is...

by . BRAC | On 18 Jan 2011

Taking Doctors Where the Ultra Poor are: Assessment of the Panel Doctor Scheme of CFPR/TUP Programme

To facilitate access of ultra poor households to qualified allopathic care, especially for moderate-tosevere and chronic morbidities, the Challenging the Frontiers of Poverty Reduction/Targeting the ...

by Syed Masud Ahmed | On 10 Jan 2011

Engaging Elite Support for the Poorest? BRAC’s Experience with the Ultra Poor Programme

This paper describes and draws lessons from the experience of engaging village elites in support of the ultrapoor through the Gram Shahayak Committees (GSC), as part of BRAC’s CFPR/TUP programme. [C...

by Naomi Hossain | On 07 Jan 2011

Formation of Village Organizations: The First Three Months

This study looked at the process of forming of Village Organizations (VOs) by BRAC. BRAC organizes the poor by initiating the institution building process through which the formation of VOs takes pl...

by Manzurul Mannan | On 29 Dec 2010

Poverty and BRAC’s Microcredit Programme: Exploring Some Linkages

This paper looks at BRAC’s Rural Development Programmes’ (RDP) interventions and consumption based poverty using household expenditure data collected from 3518 households in fourteen villages in Mat...

by Hassan Zaman | On 24 Dec 2010

The Relative Efficiency of Water Use in Bangladesh Agriculture

This study examines the marginal productivity of water and other inputs in dry season rice production in Bangladesh. Agriculture is the major water using sector in Bangladesh, but water is in shortsup...

by Nasima Tanveer Chowdhury | On 17 Dec 2010

Hygiene, Sanitation, and Water: Forgotten Foundations of Health

Health evidence confirms that the burden of disease associated with inadequate Hygience, Sanitation, Water (HSW) is overwhelmingly (although not exclusively) carried by the poor and disadvantaged...

by Jamie Bartram | On 16 Dec 2010

Negotiating Placeness:Tribal Communities in Western Ghats

The paper discuses the differences tribals and government have in understanding of and perception about the forest. It also discuses the outcomes of these differences.

by M. Suresh | On 15 Dec 2010

Consumer Preferences for Water Supply? An Application of Choice Models to Urban India

This paper examines consumer preferences for the attributes of alternative sources of water supply in Chennai, based on a household survey where respondents were given the description of a set of op...

by P. B. Anand | On 08 Dec 2010

Cost of Providing Sustainable Water,Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Services: An initial assessment of LCCA in Andhra Pradesh

Using information in the public domain and data from a pilot study, this paper argues that adoption of life-cycle cost approaches (LCCA) could play a significant role in rectifying this situation by...

by V Ratna Reddy | On 08 Dec 2010

'Slippage': The Bane of Rural Drinking Water Sector (A Study of Extent and Causes in Andhra Pradesh)

Slippage is one of the main bottlenecks of achieving full coverage of water and sanitation services in India. This paper makes an attempt to identify the causes of slippage in a systematic manner. T...

by V. Ratna Reddy | On 02 Dec 2010

Climate Change and India: A 4*4 Assessment: A Sectoral and Regional Analysis for 2030s

The report provides an assessment of impact of climate change in 2030s on four key sectors in four climate sensitive regions of India.

by Ministry of Environment and Forests GOI | On 01 Dec 2010

Getting Infrastructure Priorities Right in Post-Conflict Reconstruction

In this paper, an attempt is made to identify some key challenges for infrastructure sectors in post-conflict reconstruction. In spite of the Hague and Geneva Conventions, infrastructure can be da...

by P. B. Anand | On 01 Dec 2010

Developing Incentive Based Mechanisms for Watershed Protection Services through Participatory Hydrological Studies

Peoples’ Science Institute (PSI), Dehradun and Winrock International India (WII), Gurgaon jointly initiated participatory hydrological studies in two micro-catchments that is, the Bhodi-Suan and Kuhan...

by Rajesh Gupta | On 26 Nov 2010

Southern Engines of Global Growth: Very Long Cycles or Short Spurts?

This article views the four economies of the South in a long run historical perspective of 1500-2000. It contrasts the history and the initial endowments of the two Northern hemisphere economies C...

by Meghnad Desai | On 15 Nov 2010

The Effects of Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation on Diarrhoeal Diseases Among Children in Rural Orissa

This paper investigates the effects of safe drinking water and sanitation on diarrhoeal diseases among children in rural Orissa. [Working Paer No. 278]

by Pradeep Kumar Panda | On 12 Nov 2010

The Asian Development Bank Loan for Kerala (India): The Adverse Implications and Search for Alternatives

The privileging of internal resources over external finance is not only the most democratic but also the most politically desirable option. The implications of the ADB loan for Kerala is situated ag...

by K. Ravi Raman | On 09 Nov 2010

Prospects for Regional Cooperation between Latin America and the Caribbean Region and the Asia and Pacific Region: Perspective from East Asia

The Asia and Pacific region and Latin America and Caribbean region are two regions divided not only by vast geographic distance, but also by disparities in economics, politics, culture, and history. M...

by Erlinda M. Medalla | On 04 Nov 2010

Financing Asia’s Infrastructure: Modes of Development and Integration of Asian Financial Markets

Asia faces very large infrastructure funding demands, estimated at around US$750 billion per year for energy, transport, telecommunications, water, and sanitation during 2010–2020 (ADB/ADBI 2009). Asi...

by Biswa Nath Bhattacharyay | On 03 Nov 2010

Asset Market Structures and Monetary Policy in a Small Open Economy

This paper sets up a canonical new Keynesian small open economy model with nominal price rigidities to explore the impact of habit persistence and exchange rate pass-through on the welfare ranking of...

by Yongseung Jung | On 01 Nov 2010

Delivery Complications and Determinants of Caesarean Section Rates in India- An Analysis of National Family Health Surveys

Caesarean section rates have been increasing world-wide raising the question of the appropriateness of the selection of cases for the procedure. This paper examines the levels and correlates of deli...

by Udaya S Mishra | On 25 Oct 2010

Report of the Evaluation Study on Hill Development Programme in Assam and West Bengal

The major objectives of the current evaluation study was to understand the approach and strategy for the implementation of Hill Area Development Programme (HADP) and analyze the "impact‟ of the...

by Planning Commission, India | On 20 Oct 2010

Asset Creation and Local Economy under NREGs: Scope and Challenges

The paper examines the potential impact of wages and assets created under NREGS on local economies and discusses policy implications for ensuring realization of the potential. The specific objectiv...

by Amita Shah | On 18 Oct 2010

China, India, Brazil and South Africa in the World Economy: Engines of Growth?

This paper attempts to analyse the economic implications of the rise of China, India, Brazil and South Africa, for developing countries situated in the wider context of the world economy. It exami...

by Deepak Nayyar | On 15 Oct 2010

Looking Beyond Literacy: Disparities in Levels of and Access to Education in a Kerala Village

This paper makes an attempt at understanding why inequalities continue to exist in the educational profile of the population despite high literacy, universal enrollment in schools and relatively be...

by Suma Scaria | On 12 Oct 2010

Birth of Women Dacoits A Case Study of U.P. and M.P.

A study of the women dacoits of the Chambal valley was undertaken to determine what special circumstances exist which pressurize women to take up dacoity, or whether these outlaws had a psychopathic d...

by Government of India Ministry of Women and Child Development | On 11 Oct 2010

Tackling Water Scarcity in Bangladesh – A Lesson from the Country’s Rice Fields

In many parts of Bangladesh water scarcity is a seasonal problem. An assessment is done to understand whether water is being used efficiently for the cultivation of one of the most important food c...

by Nasima Tanveer Chowdhury | On 05 Oct 2010

Nutrition in India: Facts and Interpretations

The Indian economy has recently grown at historically unprecedented rates and is now one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. Real GDP per head grew at 3.95 percent a year from 1980 to 2...

by Angus Deaton | On 05 Oct 2010

An Extinct Indian Language

Languages have their own laws of evolution, ones that are not too different from those about species. Some languages survive, grow. Others become extinct. Some merge themselves into other languages. O...

by The Hindu | On 04 Oct 2010

Escaping Poverty: The Ralegan Siddhi Case

Poverty remains to be the most important development issue facing India with an estimated 301.72 million Indians (27.5 percent) living below the poverty line in 2004-2005. In 1975, Ralegan Siddhi was...

by Aasha Kapur Mehta | On 04 Oct 2010

Pricing of Drinking Water: An Application of Coase Two-part Tariff

An efficient and equitable rate structure for drinking water based on a modified version of Coase two-part tariff is developed and estimated for an urban water supply scheme in Kerala State, India...

by G. Murugan | On 04 Oct 2010

Resettlement in Action

This report studies the ongoing resettlement for the middle route of the South-North Water Transfer Project at Danjiangkou in Hubei Province, China. The Water Transfer Project is China’s biggest wat...

by International Rivers Network IRN | On 30 Sep 2010

Who Are the MDG Trailblazers? A New MDG Progress Index

In September, world leaders will assemble in New York to review progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Ahead of the ensuing discussions, we examine how individual countries are fari...

by Benjamin Leo | On 29 Sep 2010

Estimating Demand for Infrastructure in Energy, Transport, Telecommunications, Water and Sanitation in Asia and the Pacific: 2010-2020

This paper estimates the need for infrastructure investment, including energy, transport, telecommunications, water, and sanitation during 2010-2020, in order to meet growing demands for services and...

by Biswa Nath Bhattacharyay | On 27 Sep 2010

Tackle the inflows

An issue that has attracted surprisingly little notice is the size and growth of the trade deficit. Even more worrisome is the flat trajectory for exports — which escapes notice because comparisons ar...

by T.N. Ninan | On 24 Sep 2010

Application of GIS in Post Flood Epidemics – A Case Study, Mumbai

The present study deals with the role of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in mapping the disease prevalence in areas and indicating the severity of a particular disease in certain areas. The pri...

by Guru Balamurugan | On 23 Sep 2010

Women's Work in the Post Reform Period: An Exploration of Macro Data

Development within the framework of economic reforms is often equated to growth rates which are highlighted as the only solution to all problems – be it poverty, unemployment or inequalities based...

by Neetha N | On 21 Sep 2010

Is Gender Equity In Formal Occupations an Explanatory Factor?

Early writers on fertility decline (Thompson 1929; Davis 1945 1955 1963; Notestein 1945; Feedman 1961-62) emphasized broad forces of modernization, such as urbanization, industridiization, shi...

by D. Narayana | On 21 Sep 2010

Econometric Approach to Water Use Estimation in Power Plants

The purpose of this paper is to examine water use estimation in hydel and thermal electric power plants in selected regions i.e. Coastal, Rayalaseema and Telangana regions of Andhra Pradesh. The stud...

by Perini Praveena Sri | On 20 Sep 2010

Markets, Institutions and Efficiency: Ground Water Irrigation in North India

This paper analyzes the institutions and markets that govern groundwater allocation in the sugarcane belt of Uttar Pradesh, India, using primary, plot-level data from a village which shares the typic...

by A. Banerji | On 14 Sep 2010

Feeding Southeast Asia: Mekong River Fisheries and Regional Food Security

This paper reviews the available literature that links regional food security to the Mekong River’s wild capture fisheries, and argues for recognition of the existing contribution that the fisheries...

by Brooke Peterson | On 08 Sep 2010

History Institutions and Economic Performance: The Legacy of Colonial Land Tenure Systems in India

This paper analyze the colonial institutions set up by the British to collect land revenue in India, and show that differences in historical property rights institutions lead to sustained differences...

by Abhijit Banerjee | On 03 Sep 2010

Tiger Conservation in India

The primary focus of the paper is to analyze the Indian Tiger Conservation program – Project Tiger. The circumstances that lead to and the conditions under which the program was launched are discuss...

by Varun Khandelwal | On 03 Sep 2010

Managing Knowledge, Creating Networks and Triggering Innovations for Sustainable Agriculture

In this paper, the author discuss the major knowledge gaps, stress the importance of peer learning and building upon farmers’ own innovations and suggest new initiatives for transforming extension s...

by Anil. K Gupta | On 25 Aug 2010

Issues and Constrains in Manpower Supply in Indian Hospitality Industry

The availability of skilled and trained manpower is a crucial element in the successful long-term development and sustainability of a tourist destination. Skilled and trained human resources will ensu...

by P. Srinivas Subbarao | On 20 Aug 2010

Radio drug advertisement situation and regulation in Thailand

Drug consumption in Thailand is high in comparison with other countries. A key factor influencing this over consumption is advertising. Radio is the media that can easily reach a lot of people, in...

by Tanattha Kittisopee | On 23 Jul 2010

Environmental Control in Greenhouse and Animal Houses with Earth-Tube-Heat-Exchangers in Hot Semi-arid North-West India

This paper explores the process of Environmental Control in Greenhouse and Animal Houses with Earth-Tube-Heat-Exchangers in hot semi-arid north-west India. [Working Paper No. 2009-11-04]

by Girja Sharan | On 20 Jul 2010

The National Commission For Women: Assessing Performance

Although a lot of scholarly attention has gone into issues concerning women for more than three decades, little work has been done on the evolution and functioning of institutions1 that have been cr...

by Sadhna Arya | On 16 Jul 2010

Private Supply of Water in Delhi

The paper discuses the water supply system in Delhi. It highlights the facts work done by the Delhi Jal Board, the role played by private water suppliers in Delhi, the effects of indiscriminate extrac...

by Shivani Daga | On 14 Jul 2010

Feasibility of Integrating Solar Desalination with Greenhouse Systems in Semi-Arid Region of North-west India

A two-phase project is underway to develop greenhouse systems suitable for water scarce, semi-arid region of north-west India (Kutch). The first phase aimed at studying the effectiveness of natur...

by Girja Sharan | On 13 Jul 2010

Quality and Coordination of Official Development Aid in Pakistan

Pakistan has historically received large volumes of aid but it has also faced an increasingly difficult task of aid coordination. In 2007, Pakistan received more than U.S.$2.2 billion in Official Deve...

by Abdul Malik | On 18 Jun 2010

NCPCR Report on Children Affected by Civil Unrest Dantewada and Khammam

The National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) conducted a factfinding visit from 17th to 19th December 2007, to Dantewada (Chhattisgarh) and Khammam (Andhra Pradesh), in order t...

by HAQ Centre for Child Rights HAQCRC | On 18 Jun 2010

Theun-Hinboun: Expanding Failure

The Theun-Hinboun Expansion Project – a dam and diversion project under construction in Central Laos – violates the Equator Principles and Lao law, according to this report. It documents how Lao villa...

by Ikuko Matsumoto | On 17 Jun 2010

Not Just Mad Englishmen and a Dog: The Colonial Tuning of 'Music on Record', 1900-1908

The paper excavates how the advent of commercial audiography, through 'Recording Expeditions' between 1902 and 1907, shaped configurations of the nascent business in, and culture around, 'music on rec...

by Vibodh Parthasarathi | On 16 Jun 2010

Impact Assessment of CFPR/TUP: A Descriptive Analysis Based on 2002-2005 Panel Data

This paper looks at the overall performance of the CFPR/TUP programme using the 2002 baseline survey and 2005 repeat survey. All the topics covered in this study could be analysed more deeply, but tha...

by Mehnaz Rabbani | On 15 Jun 2010

Policy Barriers Preventing Access to Emergency Obstetric Care in Rural India

The paper is based on study of policies, research reports and experience of working in the area of maternal health over last several years. The paper describes how policies restrict basic doctors*fr...

by Dileep V. Mavalankar | On 07 Jun 2010

Addressing Agricultural Power Subsidy: A Case Study of North Gujarat

This paper on the basis of fieldwork in the region of North Gujarat tries to analyze the perceptions among various sections of the farmers and examines whether the subsidy is pro-poor in nature. The...

by Vidyut Joshi | On 07 Jun 2010

The EU-India FTA in Services and Possible Gender Impact in India: Concern Areas

This paper studies the impact of services trade liberalization under the currently negotiated EU-India FTA on women’s lives in India and tries to delineate the concern areas. Relevant sectors of int...

by Ranja Sengupta | On 25 May 2010

Cultures of Transport: Representation, Practice and Technology

It is argue that the so-called cultural‘ (and spatial‘) turn that has remodelled so many other areas of the humanities and social sciences over the last two decades might help answer Armstrong‘s plea...

by Colin Divall | On 21 May 2010

Urban Governance and Finance in India

Over 330 million people live in India’s cities; 35 cities have a population of over a million and three (Mumbai, Delhi, and Kolkata) of the 10 largest metropolises in the world are in India. India’s...

by M. Govinda Rao | On 21 May 2010

Grassroot Empowerment (1975-1990): A Discussion Paper

The discussion focusses on women in poverty their concentration in rural and urban areas, and the organisational approach for their mobilization and empowerment. Maximum emphasis has been placed on...

by Narayana K Banerjee | On 17 May 2010

Indian Fisheries-A Historical Alternative

This paper aims at touching on the main divisions of fisheries management, with an insight into the state mechanism and the extra legal systems in place. The principal focus is the history of Indian m...

by Rohan Dominic Mathews | On 16 Apr 2010

North East: Fallen off the Media Map?

Report from the 11th Media Dialogue ’North East: Fallen off the Media Map? or Why Does the Media Give so Lettle Space to this Vast Region?

by Shambhu Ghatak | On 07 Apr 2010

Family Planning as ‘Liberation’: The Ambiguities of ‘Emancipation From Biology’ in Keralam

The overall effort of the paper is to highlight the ambiguities of ‘liberation’ in 20th century Keralam and to problematise the tradition/modernity binary that too often organises the writing of th...

by J Devika | On 02 Apr 2010

Tourism Department: In Search of Tourists

Delhi is believed to be dil of India. It features historic attractions tracing our evolution from the past to the present. The legacy includes architecture of every description, which never ceases to...

by Shiva Mishra | On 01 Apr 2010

Planning for Human Settlements in India-Spatial Perspective

This paper examines the basis upon which rural and urban areas are classified as such. It looks into various criteria for the above all over the world and re-iterates the Indian definition of an ‘urba...

by V.K. Dhar | On 22 Mar 2010

Karnataka Budget 2010-11

Budget speech by finance minister of Karnataka

by Government of Karnataka GoK | On 05 Mar 2010

State Aid and Competition in Banking: The Case of China in the Late Nineties

A reduced form model where banks can pursue other goals than profit maximization is presented. This allows us to test for behavioral changes of banks over time. This model provides a framework to e...

by Xiaoqiang Cheng | On 23 Feb 2010

Prevalence and Costs of Childhood Diarrhoea in the Slums of Dhaka

This study seeks to identify the engineering, behavioural and socio-economic determinants of childhood diarrhoea and its duration and to compute the resulting costs borne by slum dwellers. The study...

by M. Jahangir Alam | On 22 Feb 2010

Many Worlds of Dak Vachan: Proverbial Knowledge and the History of Rain and Weather

This paper is about deconstructing the middle class perception of the domain of the ‘folk’ in this region. With these questions, the paper sets out an agenda for writing the history of rain and weat...

by Sadan Jha | On 16 Feb 2010

The Development of Sports Medicine in Twentieth Century Britain

If it had not been for the vision and tenacious dedication of early pioneers, the difficulties encountered in the creation of the specialty of sport and exercise medicine may not have been overcome....

by L Reynolds | On 06 Feb 2010

Can Mangroves Minimize Property Loss during Big Storms? An Analysis of House Damage due to the Super Cyclone in Orissa

This paper estimates the storm protection benefits due to mangroves during the super cyclone of 1999 in Orissa. By combining GIS data with census information, the paper examines the mangrove mediate...

by Saudamini Das | On 25 Jan 2010

Water Democracy: Reclaiming Public Water in Asia

This collection of 19 new essays written by civil society activists, trade unionists and other water practitioners, presents examples of ongoing struggles against water privatization and commercia...

by Focus on the Global South FGS | On 22 Jan 2010

Examining Role of the State in Health Care: A Study of Motikhavadi-Special Economic Zone (SEZ-Jamnagar)

This paper examines the health services provided by Reliance Industries in the village, Motikhavadi, which comes under the Special economic Zone- Jamnagar to scrutinise the role of the state, especi...

by Shilpa Jadhav Bhakre | On 22 Jan 2010

Annual Status of Education Report (Rural) 2009 (Provisional)

The purpose of the ASER 2009’s rapid assessment survey in rural areas is twofold: (i) to get reliable estimates of the status of children’s schooling and basic learning (reading and arithmetic level)...

by Pratham Pratham | On 21 Jan 2010

Identity Formation, Nationhood and Women An Overview of Issues

The essay is begun with a reference to a television programme on one of the Hindi news channels - titled Burqe me Atankvad which was telecast sometime in mid-2005. The complex and turmoil-ridden and ...

by Vasanthi Raman | On 21 Jan 2010

Market-Based Approaches to Environmental Management: A Review of Lessons from Payment for Environmental Services in Asia

Market-based approaches to environmental management, such as payment for environmental services (PES), have attracted unprecedented attention during the past decade. PES policies, in particular, hav...

by Bhim Adhikari | On 20 Jan 2010

Japan’s Foreign Direct Investment Experiences in India: Lessons Learnt from Firm Level Surveys

The paper first gives a brief history and comparison of Japanese foreign direct investment into India and other Asian countries, highlighting the fact that Japanese investment into India is quite lo...

by Srabani Roy Choudhury | On 19 Jan 2010

The Nature of Rural Infrastructure: Problems and Prospects

This paper looks at rural infrastructure facilities in India, the lack of which is demonstrated to be an impediment to sustained economic development. It is argued that problems of rural infrastruct...

by Suman Bery | On 15 Jan 2010

Harvesting Rainwater: Catch Water Where it Falls!

The paper is a analysis of the rainwater harvesting system in context of Delhi which is suffering from acute water problems.

by Arjun Bhattacharya | On 22 Dec 2009

Fuel for the Clean Energy Debate – A Study of Fuelwood Collection and Purchase in Rural India

In many parts of rural India the use of wood for fuel is the cause of significant environmental and health problems. Efforts to help people switch to cleaner fuels have not been effective and fuelwood...

by ARABINDA MISHRA | On 18 Dec 2009

A Report of Fact Finding Team on Children Rescued from Zari Industry, Delhi and Restored in Their Families in Various Districts in Bihar

A fact-finding mission was undertaken by HAQ: Centre for Child Rights in June 2006 at the request of the Child Welfare Committee, Nirmal Chhaya, Delhi, to follow-up on the children rescued from the Za...

by HAQ Centre for Child Rights HAQCRC | On 16 Dec 2009

Disowned Institutions in Hilaungad Watershed

The objective of the study is to undertake watershed based planning for integrated community management of natural resources for livelihood security. Separate studies were done in Nepal and in Uttarak...

by Debashish Sen | On 04 Dec 2009

Women’s Experience in New Panchayats: The Emerging Leadership of Rural Women

This paper presents some of the findings of our recent study on women’s representation and participation in panchayats. Some of the findings of the study (Buch; 1999) of women in panchayats after the...

by Nirmala Buch | On 04 Dec 2009

Flying with the Crane-Recapturing KMVS’s Ten-Year Journey

This document is at the behest of KMVS and is an effort to hold up a mirror to their journey. It is a documentation of their history, context, evolution, and experiences since its emergence in 1989. A...

by Vimala Ramachandran | On 01 Dec 2009

Himalyan Glaciers

A detailed historical review of the research to date spanning more than 50 years, and includes a perspective on the impact of climate change on the glaciers. The Ministry invites comments on the Paper...

by V K Raina | On 30 Nov 2009

Valuing the Land of Tigers – What Indian Visitors are Willing to Pay

The study uses an assessment of visitors’ travel costs to estimate the annual recreational value of the Sundarban. It calculates this to be at least INR 15 million (US$ 377,000) for domestic visitor...

by Indrila Guha | On 27 Nov 2009

VIllage Economics and the Structure of Extended Family Networks

This paper documents how the structure of extended family networks in rural Mexico relates to the poverty and inequality of the village of residence. Using the Hispanic naming convention, within-villa...

by Manuela Angelucci | On 23 Nov 2009

Muslim Women’s Rights Discourse in the Pre independece Period

The present paper deals with the discourse of the rights of Muslim women in the pre- independence period with particular reference to the Shariat Act 1937 and the Muslim Marriage Dissolution Act 193...

by Sabiha Hussain | On 20 Nov 2009

Migration and Urban Poverty in India Some Preliminary Observations

Migration decisions to urban areas that are backed by economic rationale and attempts to understand gains accruing to individuals from migration, in terms of poverty outcomes are analysed. The analy...

by William Joe | On 16 Nov 2009

Women in Self Help Groups and Panchayti Raj Institutions: Suggesting Synergistic Linkages

Questions about the processes of empowerment generated under each of these interventions and also suggests synergistic linkages between the two are raised.

by Joy Deshmukh Ranadive | On 13 Nov 2009

A Profession on the Margins: Status Issues in Indian Nursing

This joint paper attempts an unusual collaborative approach that offers an understanding of the problems that registered nurses of India have faced. Through this paper, the problem of ‘social status’...

by Sreelekha Nair | On 10 Nov 2009

Sisyphean Labours Domestic Water Supply In The Central-Western Himalayas

The paper begins with a review of national programmes and their performances. The next two sections highlight the record of domestic water supply programmes in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh with th...

by People's Science Institute PSI | On 10 Nov 2009

Engaging Communities to Improve Health and Nutrition Outcomes: The Role of Community Volunteers in INHP

INHP adopted a multiple volunteer per village model, with one volunteer serving the immediate neighborhood of about 20-30 households to rationalize volunteer workloads and to ensure cultural compatibi...

by CARE India | On 09 Nov 2009

Book Review: A New Synthesis on the Renaissance Hospital

The Renaissance Hospital: Healing the Body and Healing The Soul by John Henderson. New Haven Yale University Press, 2006. xxxiv + 458 pp. $60.00 (cloth).

by Brian Nance | On 05 Nov 2009

Environmental Sector China: From Major Building Site to Growth Market

China’s economy is booming at the expense of its environment. The country’s resource efficiency is nowhere near the level of western nations. Per unit of gross domestic product China consumes more tha...

by Eric Heymann | On 22 Oct 2009

The Pilot Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health Project (MNCH) at Nilphamari: Profiling the Changes During 2006-07

BRAC health programme (BHP) initiated a pilot maternal, neonatal and child health project (MNCH) in Nilphamari in 2006 to improve the health status of women of reproductive age including neonates an...

by Shahnawaz Mohammad Rafi | On 15 Oct 2009

Rural Health Services at Cross-Roads: Insights from Gujarat

The objective of the paper is to i) understand and document the morbidity profile, ii) examine utilisation of health services, and iii) estimate approximate expenses on health care by th...

by Ratnawali Sinha | On 07 Oct 2009

Survival Lessons Water Management Traditions in the Central-Western Himalayas

India is home to fantastic water harvesting traditions that have evolved over millennia. The central western Himalayan states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand are no exceptions to these traditions....

by People's Science Institute PSI | On 21 Sep 2009

Food Consumption and Nutritional Status in India: Emerging Trends and Perspectives

The paper reviews the trends over three decades in the consumption of cereals, calories and micronutrients and nutritional status based on anthropometric measures using the data sets of NSS, NNMB and...

by Radhakrishna R | On 15 Sep 2009

Crossed and Crucified Parivar's War Aganist Minorities in Orissa

The report attempts to contextualize the exploitation of those who are aafected by the one of the worst communal riots in history and document how dominant interests have used this situation of chron...

by People's Union of Civil Liberties PUCL | On 31 Aug 2009

Impact of Air Pollution on Human Health in Dehra Doon City

To study the adverse health effects of exposure to ambient air pollution in different areas of Dehra Doon. To examine the relationship between the levels of air pollution and the percentage of affect...

by A. Gautam | On 28 Aug 2009

Rough Guide to Impact Evaluation of Environmental and Development Programs

This paper is a “rough guide” for evaluation of programs, projects and policies in the environment and development arena. First, a general overview of the what, how, and why of program evaluation, wit...

by Subhrendu K Pattanayak | On 19 Aug 2009

Analyzing Industrial Water Demand in India: An Input Distance Function Approach

This study investigates the water demand of Indian manufacturing plants. It adopts an input distance function approach and approximates it by a translog form. Duality between cost function and input d...

by Surender Kumar | On 17 Aug 2009

Strengthening Decentralization - Augmenting The Consolidated Fund of the States by the Thirteenth Finance Commission: A Normative Approach

The present study examines issues related to fiscal federalism at the third tier in general and grants to local bodies in particular. The study presents a normative framework to estimate the requireme...

by Abhay Pethe | On 14 Aug 2009

Rispana Valley Historical Area

There are various historical water conservation structures and water-mills in the Rispana valley near Rajpur. There are some of the more important structures and discusses the possibility of preservin...

by William Stichter | On 12 Aug 2009

Understanding the Relationship between Government and BRAC in Implementing WASH Programme

To explore the relationship between government and BRAC in the implementation of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programme this qualitative research was undertaken. This involved purposive samp...

by Shamim Ahmed | On 06 Aug 2009

Village Development Boards (VDBs) in Nagaland

The article describes the constitution and functions of Village Development Boards (VDBs) in NAGALAND where VDBs are considered as “Financial Intermediaries” or “Non-Banking Financial Intermediaries”....

by Karmakar K G | On 06 Aug 2009

Unravelling Khulna Jessore Drainage Project

An analysis of the Asian Development Bank-funded Khulna Jessore Drainage Rehabilitation Project by the Bangladeshi NGO Uttaran.

by Shahidul Islam | On 24 Jul 2009

Book Review: Handicraft History in India

Politics of Patronage and Protest: The State, Society, and Artisans in Early Modern Rajasthan by Nandita Prasad Sahai, Oxford University Press, 2006; 304 pp, $35.00 (cloth), ISBN978-0-19-567896...

by Tirthankar Roy | On 23 Jul 2009

Clean Water Should Be Recognized as a Human Right

Access to clean water should be declared a basic human right for three reasons. First, access to clean water can substantially reduce the global burden of disease caused by water-borne infections. Sec...

by PLoS Medicine | On 09 Jul 2009

Report on Utilisation of Funds and Assets Created Through Ganga Action Plan in States Under GAP

The Ganga Action Plan (GAP) was launched by the Government of India in the year 1985 with the objective of abatement of pollution in the river Ganga due to discharge of sewage into the river from the...

by Kirit Parikh | On 03 Jul 2009

Groundwater Irrigation in India: Gains, Costs and Risks

Groundwater has rapidly emerged to occupy a dominant place in India’s agriculture and food security in the recent years. It has become the main source of growth in irrigated area over the past 3 decad...

by Vasant P Gandhi | On 23 Jun 2009

Basic Infrastructure for a Nuclear Power Project

This publication was produced as a direction to increase the capability of Member States to plan and implement nuclear power programmes and to establish and enhance national nuclear infrastructure....

by International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA | On 19 Jun 2009

The Yamuna: Need for Inclusive Debate

The prevailing attitude is that ‘development’ is important, and that if people have to be pushed around for this, so be it. This a response to the views expressed by E Sreedharan on the Yamuna, ‘Restr...

by Ramaswamy R. Iyer | On 14 Jun 2009

Why Do Mothers Breastfeed Girls Less Than Boys? Evidence and Implications for Child Health in India

Medical research indicates that breastfeeding suppresses post-natal fertility. The implications for breastfeeding decisions are modelled and test has been done to predict model's predictions us- ing...

by Seema Jayachandran | On 09 Jun 2009

Development Challenges in Extremist Affected Areas

Widespread discontent among the people has plagued the Indian polity for sometime now. It has often led to unrest, sometimes of a violent nature. Over the years, statutory enactments and institutional...

by Expert Group Planning Commission | On 06 Jun 2009

Initiatives of NGOs in Kutch Region

Many NGOs occupy a space between public and private sector organisations, and the papers in this special issue demonstrate that the mechanisms required for effective accountability by these NGOs are u...

by Kalpana C Satija | On 06 Jun 2009

The Water and Sanitation Scenario in Indian Metropolitan Cities: Resources and Management in Delhi, Calcutta, Chennai, Mumbai

This paper reviews the urban water and sanitation scenario in metropolitan cities. Section 1 focuses on the institutional and organizational structure of the service providers by looking at the level...

by Joel Ruet | On 04 Jun 2009

Performance and Development Effectiveness of the Sardar Sarovar Project

The study was undertaken with the objective to review and analyse the costs and benefits of the Sardar Sarovar Dam at this stage, when efforts are being made to complete the last leg of the dam, rai...

by Tata Institue of Social Sciences TISS | On 26 May 2009

Himalayan Journal of Development and Democracy Vol 3:1, 2008

Papers and Proceedings of The Third Annual Himalayan Policy Research ConferenceSession Chairs and Discussants Session 1A: Conflict Resolution and Democratic Transitions Chair: Christopher Can...

by Vijaya R. Sharma | On 19 May 2009

Can Ethical Trade Certification Contribute to the Attainment of the Millennium Development Goals? A Review of Organic and Fair-trade Certification

The growth of ethical consumerism in developed countries has led to increased imports of environmentally and socially certified products produced by the poor in developing countries, which could poten...

by Sununtar Setboonsarng | On 13 May 2009

Water-Forest Management, Law And Policy In Uttaranchal Issues, Constraints, Opportunities

The Study aims at reviewing legal, policy and institutional provisions for the management of natural resources-water and forest in the State of Uttaranchal with a special focus on how the laws actuall...

by Videh Upadhyay | On 27 Apr 2009

Listen Up Economists, Why Might History Matter for Development Policy?

History matters, and it matters in important and interesting ways for policy  today. But it is not just actual events in the past. It is how they are recorded, interpreted,  and the interpretation...

by Ravi Kanbur | On 22 Apr 2009

Making the Politician and the Bureaucrat Deliver: Employment Guarantee in India

The paper examines the division of tasks required between politicians and bureaucrats to run an effective rural employment guarantee scheme (EGS) in India, in the context of Indian history and habits.

by Ashima Goyal | On 21 Apr 2009

Report of The National Children’s Consultation on Their Right To Housing

A consultation with about 40 children who have faced violations of their housing rights in some form or the other was organized on 13th November 2006 from 9 – 12 am on the National platform of India S...

by India Social Forum ISF | On 14 Apr 2009

Kerala Budget Speech 2009-10

Budget speech by finance minister Dr. Thomas Issac

by Government of Kerala Govt | On 23 Feb 2009

Cities with Suburbs: Evidence from India

For a country like India that contains a large number of Urban Agglomerations (UAs), suburbanisation has drawn little attention of the literature. I focus on this sparsely studied issue in this work....

by Kala Seetharam Sridhar | On 20 Feb 2009

Moving Beyond the Privatisation Debate: Different Approaches to financing Water and Electricity in Developing Countries

In today’s developing world the vast majority of water and electricity services are provided by public utilities. Rather than asking “who should provide the services”, the authors adopt a financing po...

by Daniel Platz | On 09 Feb 2009

Fluoride Testing and Fluorisis Mitigation in Sonebhadra District

Fluorosis is a crippling disease caused by high fluoride concentrations in drinking water. In India about 20 states have been identified with a problem of excess fluoride in groundwater. Rural popula...

by A. Gautam | On 06 Feb 2009

Beyond Industrialization New Approaches to Development Strategy Based on the Service Sector

This paper argues that it is becoming increasingly difficult for most developing countries to achieve rapid growth through industrialization, and especially through export oriented activities. But th...

by Peter Sheehan | On 03 Feb 2009

Report on the GLobal Financial Crisis and Kerala Economy: Impact and Mitigation Measures

This preliminary report has been prepared with a view to assist the state government in understanding the implications of the crisis, so that appropriate policies and programmes could be chalked to de...

by Centre for Development Studies CDS | On 02 Jan 2009

The Economic Impact of Forest Hydrological Services on Local Communities: A Case Study from the Western Ghats of India

Building upon a larger research project at four sites in the Western Ghats of peninsular India, this study examines the link between stream flow, agricultural water use and economic returns to agric...

by SHARACHCHANDRA LELE | On 02 Jan 2009

Development of What? An Exposition of the Politics of Development Economics

The present paper aims at driving home a hitherto-neglected and perhaps often muted (but important) point, namely, that the confusions and identity crisis that had gripped development economics in th...

by Arup Maharatna | On 31 Dec 2008

Child Labour in Kerala's Coir Industry-Study of Few Selected Villages

The objective of this study is to report on the extent and nature of involvement of children in the coir industry. For this purpose, it was decided to study only those operations of the industry in w...

by Leela Gulati | On 24 Dec 2008

Annual Status of Education Report (Rural) 2007

The purpose of the ASER 2007’s rapid assessment survey in rural areas is twofold: (i) to get reliable estimates of the status of children’s schooling and basic learning (reading and arithmetic level)...

by Pratham Pratham | On 12 Dec 2008

Educational Reforms in India: Universalisation of Primary Education in Kerala

The history and evolution and the factors underlying the success of primary education in Kerala. [CDS WP 189].

by P R Gopinathan Nair | On 10 Dec 2008

Negotiating Constitution for Political Unions

This paper provides a cradle-to-grave model for political union between two unequally endowed states. The main contribution of this paper is to highlight the role of technology gap and unequal distrib...

by Vikas Kumar | On 10 Dec 2008

Common Guidelines for Watershed Development Projects

This is an initiative by the Planning Commission to formulate “Common Guidelines for Watershed Development Projects in order to have a unified perspective by all ministries.These guidelines are theref...

by Government of India GOI | On 08 Dec 2008

Costs of Resource Degradation Externalities: A Study of Groundwater Depletion in Andhra Pradesh

This paper looks in to the process of environmental degradation and the resultant externalities in the context of groundwater depletion in drought prone regions. The main objective here is to estima...

by V. Ratna Reddy | On 08 Dec 2008

Village India and its Political Economy

The paper gives us a study about a village Iruvelippatu, Tamil NaduSome features of agrarian economies have also been studied. [WP No. 42].

by K N Raj | On 03 Dec 2008

National Water Policy

Concerns of the community needs to be taken into account for water resources development and management. The success of the National Water Policy will depend entirely on evolving and maintaining a na...

by Ministry of Water Resources GOI | On 02 Dec 2008

Idealistic Images of Watershed Development- Constructive Engagement with Critiques on the Common Guidelines

This paper identifies the idealistic images driving the watershed programmes as a major stumbling block in sustainable natural resource management. It calls for building on the existing governance ins...

by Saravanan S | On 02 Dec 2008

Changing Interface Between Agriculture and Livestock: A Study of Livelihood Options under Dry Land Farming Systems in Gujarat

The present paper tries to empirically examine the changing profile of distribution and ownership of livestock across different regions of India and specifically for Gujarat. Besides, primary data col...

by Amita Shah | On 21 Nov 2008

Values and Meanings of Citizenship

What does citizenship mean to poor and socially excluded people? How do their views help us understand and analyse what 'inclusive' citizenship means?

by Naila Kabeer | On 20 Nov 2008

Performance of Indian Cement Industry: The Competitive Landscape

The competitiveness among the firms in Indian cement industry has also been evaluated. For the year 2006-07, out of the sample of seventeen firms (90.21% of the total market share), about 47% have re...

by G Burange | On 19 Nov 2008

Implementing the Employment Guarantee Act- A Survey in Chitradurga District, Karnataka

The paper is a report of a survey done in Chitradurga District, Karnataka to know the functioning of NREGA and awarness of people about this Act.

by Centre for Budget and Policy Studies CBPS | On 19 Nov 2008

The Demand for Disadvantage

In a poor, growing economy with academic costs well below the market value of educational training, the tag of disadvantage has come to acquire value and, ironically, the desire for mobility has brou...

by Rohini Somanathan | On 18 Nov 2008

Ensuring ‘Collective Action’ in ‘Participatory’ Forest Management

This paper is based on a qualitative analysis of three case studies, each belonging to one of three types of institutional structures: Self-initiated, NGO-promoted, and Government-sponsored JFM. The b...

by Rucha Ghate | On 14 Nov 2008

Sustaining Rural Livelihoods in Fragile Environments : Resource Endowments or Policy Interventions? (A Study in the Context of Participatory Watershed Development in AP)

This paper primarily assesses the status of rural livelihoods in fragile environments with diverse resource endowments and policy interventions. Livelihood assessment was carried out using the sustai...

by V Ratna Reddy | On 07 Nov 2008

Dynamics of Rural Water Supply in Coastal Kerala: A Sustainable Development View

This paper examines empirically within sustainable development framework the dynamics of coverage in rural drinking water supply of 180 demand-driven schemes from Malappuram, predominantly a coastal...

by K Pushpangadan | On 27 Oct 2008

SEPHIS e-Magazine, Global South, Volume 4: no.5, October 2008

Contents: Culture as an Element in Violent Reactions to Economic Development by Dan Tschirgi the Headscarf Issue, Women and the Public Sphere in Turkey by Yylmaz Colak Inter-societal Comparative St...

by SEPHIS | On 21 Oct 2008

Poverty, Private Property and Common Pool Resource Management: The Case of Irrigation Tanks in South India

This study tries to understand the main causes of tank degradation and the complex interrelationships among poverty, private coping mechanisms and community coping mechanisms that affect tank performa...

by Balasubramanian R | On 17 Oct 2008

Impact of Urban Growth on Water Bodies The Case of Hyderabad

This study makes an attempt to analyse the transformation of common property resources (the lakes) into private property. [WP No. 60].

by Ramachandraiah C | On 17 Oct 2008

Hobbes, Coase and Baliraja: Equity and Equality in Surface Water Distribution

It is attempted to understand the implications of equality in water distribution on social welfare with a simple abstract analysis using Leontief-type fixed production function.

by Sashi Sivramakrishna | On 16 Oct 2008

Right to Drinking Water in India

This paper proceeds with approach that it is the constitutional obligation of the State to provide adequate quantity of drinking water to the citizens and also protect water resources as common good...

by Ramachandraiah C | On 13 Oct 2008

An Ethnographic Study on Women in Prostitution in Bihar

The study tries to focus on the violation of human rights that occur in prostitution. It holds that it is the responsibility of the state to protect these human rights and address the fundamental stru...

by Nina Srivastava | On 30 Sep 2008

Pollution Across Chinese Provinces

The environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis is revisited using 1987-1995 data for Chinese provinces.

by Catherine Yap Co | On 29 Sep 2008

Traditional Water Harvesting for Domestic Use: Potential and Relevance of Village Tanks in Gujarat's Desert Region

Recognising the dearth of detailed analyses of economic and environmental performance of traditional water harvesting systems (TWHS) meant exclusively for domestic use, this paper enquires into the re...

by Keshab Das | On 26 Sep 2008

Goa Musings: Mining

Men who will stop the water: vignettes from Goa's mining heartland

by Hartman de Souza | On 26 Sep 2008

Payment and Settlement System in India

The lecture is about the payment system in India, which is an important element of the financial sector infrastructure. The lecture also shows the evolution and objectives of the Indian payment system...

by Leeladhar V | On 25 Sep 2008

Can Participatory Watershed Management be sustained? Evidence from Southern India

Watershed development is a very important rural development programme in India. This paper studies 60 community groups in 12 micro-watersheds in South India to understand how villagers cooperate to ma...

by D. Suresh Kumar | On 25 Sep 2008

A New Era of World Hunger?- The Global Food Crisis Analyzed

This paper is an account of the main streams discussed in an international conference, held in New York in April 2008, organized by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and Global Policy Forum, which cons...

by James A. Paul | On 24 Sep 2008

How Participatory is Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM)? A Study of Water User Associations (WUAs) in Andhra Pradesh

It is argued that the reason for the ills of irrigation management is the alienation of farmers from the process of planning and implementation. Often 'lack of political will' is identified as the ma...

by V. Ratna Reddy | On 23 Sep 2008

From Slash-and-Burn to Sustainability – A Study from the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh

because their traditional ‘slash and burn’ agriculture is becoming increasingly unsustainable. Farmers in these communities have to farm more intensively and this is causing a whole host of environm...

by M. A. Monayem Miah | On 19 Sep 2008

Patterns, Processes of Reproduction, and Policy Imperatives for Poverty in Remote Rural Areas: A Case Study of Southern Orissa in India.

Given the vast geographical area, ecological-cultural diversity, and deep-rooted social stratification, spatial inequality is one of the important features of poverty in India. Besides inter-regiona...

by Amita Shah | On 17 Sep 2008

The Economics of Arsenic Water Pollution – A Study from Bangladesh

Bangladesh is facing a major health crisis because arsenic is poisoning a large percentage of the country’s drinking water. Although the government has taken a number of positive steps to address this...

by Zakir Husain Khan | On 04 Sep 2008

Managing the Arsenic Disaster in Water Supply:Risk Measurement, Costs of Illness and PolicyChoices for Bangladesh

Arsenic poisoning is a major public health concern in Bangladesh. This study uses primary data to examine health impacts and costs associated with arsenic contamination of groundwater. The study estim...

by M. Zakir Hossain Khan Khan | On 29 Aug 2008

Does Tourism Contribute to Local Livelihoods? A Case Study of Tourism, Poverty and Conservation in the Indian Sundarbans

This study examines the contribution of tourism towards improving the livelihoods of local people in a remote island village of the Indian Sundarbans.

by Indrila Guha | On 18 Aug 2008

Willingness to Pay for Improved Sanitation Services and its Implication on Demand Responsive Approach of BRAC Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Programme

This study aimed to provide some insights into sanitation-related strategies taken by the BRAC Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Programme from an economic point of view. The aim of this report i...

by Kazi Faisal Bin Seraj | On 06 Aug 2008

Banking Sector Reforms and Equity a Sub-Regional Analysis in Andhra Pradesh

In this study an attempt is made to examine the equity aspect due to reforms in the banking sector at sub-regional level in the state of Andhra Pradesh covering the period 1985 to 2004. [CESS WP 68]...

by K S Reddy | On 04 Aug 2008

Distress Debt and Suicides among Agrarian Households: Findings from Three Villages in Kerala

The factors and process underlying agrarian distress in Kerala by undertaking the case studies of three villages situated in Wayanad and Idukki districts namely, Cherumad, Kappikkunnu and Upputhara. T...

by K.N. Nair | On 31 Jul 2008

Shifting Cultivation and its Alternatives in Bangladesh: Productivity, Risk and Discount Rates

This study evaluates the economic feasibility of replacing shifting cultivation (Jhum) with settled agriculture and new soil conservation technology based on an assessment of the farmers’ risk and cor...

by M. A. Monayem Miah | On 29 Jul 2008

Andhra Pradesh State Policy on Organic Farming

The objectives of the policy on organic farming, the strategies of the policy are explained here.

by Centre for Sustainable Agriculture CSA | On 26 Jul 2008

Between Citizens and Institutions: The Dyamics of the Integration of Water Supply and Sanitation Services in Hyderabad

The purpose of this study is to review the changes that have taken place recently in water supply and sanitation services and examine the role of various stakeholders involved in urban governance in...

by Agnes Huchon | On 15 Jul 2008

The Unqualified Medical Practitioners Methods of Practice and Nexus with the Qualified Doctors

The presence of a large number of unqualified medical practitioners in the rural areas and urban slums indicate that they provide most of the outpatient services in the private sector. Given the huge...

by Naryana K V | On 08 Jul 2008

Constitutionalising Panchayats: The Response of State Legislatures

This article is an attempt to look at debates in the light of the Assemblies' tryst with panchayats. It should be noted that it is not an evaluation of what transpired in the state Assemblies. In view...

by Girish Kumar | On 03 Jul 2008

SEPHIS e-Magazine Global South, Volume 3: No.4: April 2008

Debolina Dutta and Oishik Sircar: From Sex Worker to Entertainment Worker: Strategic Politics of DMSC Madhurima Mukhopadhyay: Virginity Lost and Regained: Hymenoplastic Honour in Urban India Nandit...

by SEPHIS | On 15 Jun 2008

Hindi Periodicals: The Little Tradition

How is it that India’s leading language does not even have a national magazine, commercial or otherwise, worth its name but can yet support a number of literary periodicals with readerships running...

by mahmood farooqui | On 28 May 2008

Asserting The Rights of The Toiling Peasantry For Water Use: Movement of the Dam Oustees and the Drought Affected Toilers In South Maharashtra

This paper describes in some detail, an important, innovative movement in recent years, of the dam-oustees and the drought affected people in south Maharashtra, to assert their right to influence the...

by Anant Phadke | On 21 May 2008

Environmental Toxicology: The Legacy of 'Silent Spring'

The transcript of a Witness Seminar held by the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at UCL, London on March 12, 2002. Edited by D A Christie and E M Tansey. Rachel Carson’s 'Silent Spr...

by Wellcome Witness WW Seminars | On 15 May 2008

Improving the Economic Condition of Farmers

The Official Group would like to recommend a set of policy initiatives for the consideration of the Government of Karnataka. The recommendations of the Official Group are grouped under the following h...

by Government of Karnataka GoK | On 04 May 2008

Why Tank Systems Need to be Revitalized: Kaveripakkam Tank in Tamil Nadu

In the past tank systems of water storage and use played an important role in the region’s prosperity. In recent times these tanks are being neglected. A case in point is the Kaveripakkam tank in Tam...

by K Sivasubramaniyan | On 03 May 2008

Medical Ethics Education in Britain, 1963-1993: Volume 31

Medical ethics did not become a recognized subject in the syllabus of Britain's medical schools until 1993. This Witness Seminar transcript records the development of international ethical codes, the...

by The Wellcome Trust Centre for History of Medicine WTC UCL | On 02 May 2008

Clinical Research in Britain, 1950–1980: Volume 7

The growth of clinical research in the UK since the Second World War is examined, including the 1953 Cohen Report and the subsequent creation of the Medical Research Council’s Clinical Research Board....

by The Wellcome Trust Centre for History of Medicine WTC UCL | On 02 May 2008

Report on SAHR Fact Finding Mission to the North and East of Sri Lanka to Assess the State of Displaced Persons

This report on the state of displaced persons in the North and East of Sri Lanka analyses the security condition and concerns of those who live in makeshifts and camps in conflict affected areas. It p...

by South Asians for Human Rights SAHR | On 11 Apr 2008

Goa Budget 2008-09

Budget presented by Goa finance minister for the year 2008-09.

by Goa Government | On 01 Apr 2008

Inclusive Growth - The Role of Banks in Emerging Economies

Speech describes India’s experiences on ‘Inclusive Growth’ - a topic which is both current and close to the hearts of public policymakers and central bankers of emerging economies. [Independence Comme...

by Usha Thorat | On 14 Mar 2008

Brief Report of the National Seminar on 'Feeding the Child'

The problematic areas in child feedoing, particularly the poor infrastructure for the Anganwadis was highlighted. The consensus was that despite all these shortcomings there must be an expansion of A...

by Swami Sivananda Memorial Institute SSMI | On 13 Mar 2008

Playing in Invisible Markets: Toilet Innovations and Empowerment

Sanitation is at the heart of not only environmental security but also food security and health. About 42,000 people die every week due to drinking water polluted with faecal matter. The problem is m...

by Shyama V. Ramani | On 03 Mar 2008

Islam at the Ballot Box

So far, no Islamist party has managed to win a majority of the popular vote in any of the Muslim countries where reasonably clean elections are held. If anything, the Islamist share of the vote has be...

by Amir Taheri | On 24 Feb 2008

Pakistan’s Historic Opportunity for Change

Opinion polls show less than 20 per cent of Pakistanis now approve of President Musharraf, who has been described as an indispensable ally in the war against terrorism by some members of the Bush admi...

by Husain Haqqani | On 24 Feb 2008

Ordained as a Nation

Review of The Wilsonian Moment: Self-Determination and the International Origins of Anti-Colonial Nationalism by Erez Manel For the full issue please see http://www.lrb.co.uk

by Pankaj Mishra | On 24 Feb 2008

London Review of Books:Vol. 30 No. 4 · February 21, 2008

Pankaj Mishra reviews The Wilsonian Moment: Self-Determination and the International Origins of Anti-Colonial Nationalism by Erez Manela [Available on eSS] Stephen Burt on Robert Creeley And more ...

by London Review of Books LRB | On 24 Feb 2008

London Review of Books:Vol. 30 No. 4 · February 21, 2008

Pankaj Mishra reviews The Wilsonian Moment: Self-Determination and the International Origins of Anti-Colonial Nationalism by Erez Manela [Available on eSS] Stephen Burt on Robert Creeley And more ...

by London Review of Books LRB | On 24 Feb 2008

Public Private Partnership in Drinking Water Supply of Greater Mumbai

Demand for drinking water is continuously increasing over the period of time in Mumbai city but the supply is stagnant. The State government of Maharashtra and Brihanmumbai Corporation (BMC) does not...

by Sanjay Rode | On 12 Feb 2008

Estimating the Economic Benefits of Arsenic Removal in India: A Case Study from West Bengal

People living in almost fifty percent of the districts in West Bengal are exposed to arsenic contaminated water. The economic costs imposed by arsenic-related health problems are estimated. Data from...

by Joyashree Roy | On 08 Feb 2008

The Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2007

A bill to provide for the rehabilitation and resettlement of persons affected by the acquisition of land for projects of public purpose or involuntary displacement due to any other reason, and for mat...

by Lok Sabha | On 07 Feb 2008

Livelihood Risks and Coping Strategies: A Case Study in the Agrarian Village Of Cherumad, Kerala

The various dimensions of livelihood risk as informed by a in-depth case study of an agrarian village namely, Cherumad in Kerala is examined. [WP no. 394].

by K.N. Nair | On 06 Feb 2008

Acceptance Speech for the Nobel Peace Prize Awarded to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

The work of the IPCC has helped the world to learn more on all aspects of climate change, and the Nobel Peace Prize Committee has acknowledged this fact. [Speech delivered in Oslo]

by Pachauri R K | On 04 Feb 2008

Transport: Then, now, and Tomorrow

A historical survey of transport to demonstrate that transport has always been recognised as of paramount importance for the wellbeing of the whole community, that a combination of collective and indi...

by Ralph Harrington | On 01 Feb 2008

An Analysis of Fertility Differentials among Caste Groups in Andhra Pradesh

The fertility differentials among caste groups in Andhra Pradesh are examined in the context of characteristics and interaction hypotheses, using the second National Family Health Survey data. Multiva...

by P Ramesh | On 21 Jan 2008

Book Review: Visualizing Children: Images and Imagination

Review of Erika Langmuir Imagining Childhood. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006. 256 pp. Illustrations, notes, index. $55.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-300-10131-7.

by Loren Lerner | On 15 Jan 2008

Transgenics in Indian Agriculture: Experiences so far and implications of KIA proposals on Indian Farmers

KIA proposes to bring a paradigm shift in Indian Agriculture in terms of human resource development, research, technology generation, technology dissemination and commercialization. In the short run,...

by Ramanjaneyulu G V | On 05 Jan 2008

Outline of a Joint Lecture on Action Agenda for Transition to a Just, Equitable, Regenerative and Prosperous Society

The outline of an action agenda to address issues regarding barriers to creating an equitable society that we urgently need to take up. [at XXXI ISSC at SNDT women's University].

by Datye K R | On 28 Dec 2007

‘Inclusive Citizenship’ for the Chronically Poor: Exploring the Inclusion-Exclusion Nexus in Collective Struggles

The promotion of ‘inclusive citizenship’, through which the disadvantaged engage in collective struggles for justice and recognition, has been attracting growing attention as a solution to chronic p...

by Katsuhiko Masaki | On 19 Dec 2007

Handbook One for Documentation and Presentation of Evidence Concerning Denial of the Right to Health Care

This document contains information and tools concerning testimonies of denial of health care – the stories of persons who have been denied essential health care from health facilities, and who have su...

by Jan Swasthya Abhiyan JSS | On 17 Dec 2007

Traditional Chinese Medicine Could Make “Health for One” True

The present paper analyzes the possibilities of Traditional Chinese Medicine to become a perfect medicine.

by Qian Jia | On 12 Nov 2007

Using Family Histories to Understand the Intergenerational Transmission of Chronic Poverty

A method of collecting family histories that would act as a means of linking households from the panel studies with individual life histories is proposed. The procedure used to construct a three-gener...

by Robert Miller | On 07 Nov 2007

Socio-Economic Empowerment of Women through SHGs Case Study from Orissa

In a remote tribal village of Kandhamal District of Orissa, where there there are visible signs of empowerment of women due to the formation of SHG in the village. The confidence level of women, who...

by Pradeep Baisakh | On 05 Nov 2007

Damned Rivers, Damned Lies What the Water Establishment Doesn't Want You to Know

The social, environmental and economic impacts of dams are summarised and outlines better options for water management and energy supply. [IRN Brief].

by International Rivers Network IRN | On 18 Oct 2007

Going Places? Visitors, Enthusiasts and the Public History of Transport

The ways in which the public learns about the histories of transport and travel are explored. The role of displays put on by museums and by heritage transport attractions - organisations such as steam...

by Colin Divall | On 11 Oct 2007

Elements of Effective Central Banking: Theory, Practice, and History

The key elements of effective central banking that account for much of the improvement in monetary policy around the world today are outlined and explained. The past quarter of the century has been a...

by Marvin Goodfriend | On 09 Oct 2007

Model Nagara Raj Bill

Model bill to amend the laws relating to the Municipalities and to institutionalise citizens’ participation in municipal functions, e.g. setting priorities, budgeting provisions, etc. by setting up of...

by Ministry of Urban Development MoUD | On 08 Oct 2007

Perceptions of the Locomotive Driver: Image and Identity on British Railways, c.1840-c.1950

This paper is concerned with some aspects of the way one particular railway occupation – that of locomotive driver – has been perceived in Great Britain from the mid-19th century to the mid-20th. The...

by Ralph Harrington | On 07 Oct 2007

Human Tragedy in Majuli: Can Anything Be Done?

Majuli was once the largest river islands and the cultural home of the Asomiya community. Today, repeated floods of the Brahmaputra have ensured that the community has lost home and hearth to erosion...

by Apurba K. Baruah | On 07 Oct 2007

History and Anthropology: A Marriage Made in Heaven

Anthropology is a science of inquiries about the origins and continuities of the patterned differentiation of human beings into distinguishable groups. During the last hundred years, most such inquir...

by Sidney W. Mintz | On 04 Oct 2007

Periurbanisation in Tamil Nadu: A Quantitative Approach

This paper is an attempt to measure the extent of peri-urbanisation that has taken place in TamilNadu. Geographical data is used based on the 1991 census for TamilNadu and Pondicherry. A systematic e...

by Sébastien Oliveau | On 04 Oct 2007

Groundwater Users, Wake up: Danger Ahead! Message from the Experts

The Expert Group constituted by the Planning commission to examine issues related to groundwater management and ownership has made extensive recommendations tha need to be taken seriously. Most impor...

by K.V. Raju | On 04 Oct 2007

Marketing of Bt Cotton in India: Aggressive, Unscrupulous and False….

The paper examines the prevailing situation of Bt cotton marketing in India. It tells a story of how aggressive and unethical marketing practices are adopted for luring faemers into the Bt cotton trap...

by Centre for Sustainable Agriculture CSA | On 04 Oct 2007

Groundwater Management and Ownership: Report of Expert Group

It is time India recognises its dependency on groundwater resources, which is only going to increase in the coming years, partly because of growing urbanisation and industrialisation. In view of the g...

by Kirit Parikh | On 03 Oct 2007

Two Indian Birth Anniversaries: The Meteor and the Mahatma

In popular belief, Bhagat Singh and Gandhi occupy two antipodes in India's struggle for freedom – the former representing the young generation impatient to overthrow foreign rule by any means necessar...

by Niranjan Ramakrishnan | On 03 Oct 2007

The 40:40 Team

Some of the company managers tune their business strategy to match the quarterly cycle of results announcements. Rapidly growing economies will deliver such high valuations, and many of them will be s...

by T.N. Ninan | On 01 Oct 2007

Conserving Biodiversity Efficiently: What to Do, Where, and When

Conservation priority-setting schemes have not yet combined geographic priorities with a framework that can guide the allocation of funds among alternate conservation actions that address specific thr...

by Kerrie A Wilson | On 21 Sep 2007

Asian Anthrpology, Volume 4, 2005

Main Articles Hahoe: The Appropriation and Marketing of Local Cultural Heritage in Korea - Okpyo MOON The Polder Museum of Ogata-mura: Community, Authenticity, and Sincerity in a Japanese Village ...

by Anthropology Department Chinese University of Hong Kong | On 07 Sep 2007

The Railway Accident: Trains, Trauma and Technological Crisis in Nineteenth Century Britain

The railway accident as an agent of traumatic experience occupies an important place in the history of mid- and late-nineteenth-century medical and medico-legal discourses over trauma and traumatic di...

by Ralph Harrington | On 06 Sep 2007

Price Incentives, Nonprice factors, and Crop Supply Response: The Indian Cash Crops

Agriculture as a source of growth was sorely neglected in the early development strategies of the currently developing countries. Realisation of this shortcoming prompted public policy in these countr...

by Sunil Kanwar | On 06 Sep 2007

What Happens if We Think About Railways as a Kind of Consumption? Towards a New Historiography of Transport and Citizenship in Early-Twentieth-Century Britain

Historians have been rather unconcerned about how the provision and use of transport, both personal and collective, might have influenced consumption in these and related areas up to 1939. In particul...

by Colin Divall | On 05 Sep 2007

Changes in Living Standards in Villages in India 1975-2004: Revisiting the ICRISAT Village Level Studies

This paper examines changes in living conditions in the six villages in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, initially surveyed during 1975-84. This study is linked to the original Village Level Survey (VL...

by Reena Badiani | On 30 Aug 2007

Book Review: Contested Modernities

Indigenous Modernities: Negotiating Architecture and Urbanism by Jyoti Hosagrahar; Routledge,New York; 2005. xiii + 234 pp., $43.95 (paper).

by Amita Sinha | On 23 Aug 2007

India: Large and Small

The past and present of India can be seen in many different perspectives. There is a case for focusing particularly on the long history of the argumentative tradition in India, and its continuing rele...

by Amartya Sen | On 17 Aug 2007

Book Review: Anti-Imperialism and Individualism

Organizing Empire: Individualism, Collective Agency, and India. By Purnima Bose; Duke University Press, Durham and London, South Asian Reprint, Zubaan, New Delhi, 2006.

by Barnita Bagchi | On 13 Aug 2007

ACHR Weekly Review: Pakistan: The Land of Religious Apartheid and Jackboot Justice

On 14 August 2007, the United Nations Committee on the International Convention Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD Committee) is tentatively scheduled to examine the situation of...

by Asian Centre for Human Rights ACHR | On 11 Aug 2007

Indian Elderly Among Marginal Sections Programmes and Policies in the Era of Globalisation

This paper is an attempt to bring out different needs of elders from different backgrounds and socio-economic groups. The main aim of the paper is to help policy makers in identifying these difference...

by Habibullah Ansari | On 02 Aug 2007

Governance Institutions and Development

The problem of corruption has become very important in recent thinking on development policy. But corruption is only a part of the more general issue of economic governance, and of more general policy...

by Avinash K Dixit | On 17 Jul 2007

Custodial Death of Rohtas Singh of Haryana: A Fact Finding Report

The report of a two member team of Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) consisting of Advocate Nitesh Kumar Singh and Advocate Rajesh Pandey on the death in custody of Rohtas Singh, owner of a ready-m...

by Asian Centre for Human Rights ACHR | On 13 Jul 2007

Statistical System of India: Some Reflections

The historical development of statistics in India is outlined. The application of statistics in RBI and the areas where statisticians can contribute significantly are also given [Speech delivered on T...

by Rakesh Mohan | On 10 Jul 2007

A Water Monetary Standard: An Economic Thesis

In emerging markets and economies with limited supplies of potable water, the current monetary policy governing water distribution has failed or will eventually fail. This paper offers an alternative...

by Michael P. Jackson | On 09 Jul 2007

Conceptualizing Economic Marginalization

What exactly is 'economic marginalization'? How should one conceptualize it, and what are the implications of such conceptualization? Economic marginalization can be conceptualized as outcome or as p...

by Ravi Kanbur | On 05 Jul 2007

Health Domain of the Ultra Poor: An Exploration

Relatively small proportion of literature has focused upon health behaviours and types of health services used by the poor in rural Bangladesh, particularly ultra poor households.This study aimed to e...

by Shahaduz Zaman | On 14 Jun 2007

Farmers And Rulers State Intervention In The 19th Century Deccan Country Side

After the British conquest of the Deccan, the new government was faced with the task of working out a viable land revenue system. Robert Keith Pringle who was a student of Malthus, tried to apply Rica...

by Neeraj Hatekar | On 28 Mar 2007

Groundwater Irrigation in North India: Institutions and Markets

This paper analyzes the institutions and markets that govern groundwater allocation in the sugarcane belt of Uttar Pradesh, India, using primary, plot-level data from a village which shares the typica...

by Banerji A | On 21 Mar 2007

Agriculture: A Perspective from History, the Metrics of Comparative Advantage, and Limitations of the Market to Understand the Role of State in a Globalising World

Multilateral agencies and economists with much influence have been urging laissez-faire in agriculture. While success with the rich countries has been minimal despite the commitments under the WTO, ma...

by Sebastian Morris | On 07 Mar 2007

Agricultural Development and Sources of Output Growth in Maharashtra State

An attempt has been made to analyse agricultural growth and the contribution of various components to the overall output growth of the Maharashtra State for the period from 1961-62 to 1997-98. It is o...

by Shrikant Kalamkar | On 02 Mar 2007

Reforming Delivery of Urban Services in Developing Countries: Evidence from a Case Study in India

Given the importance of urban public services in attracting firm location, increasing employment and facilitating economic growth, in this paper, the author examines the following questions: Is there...

by Kala Seetharam Sreedhar | On 17 Feb 2007

Women Politicians, Gender Bias, and Policy-making in Rural India

Despite the importance of this issue for the design of institutions around the world, little is known about the relative performance of women as policy makers, about their impact on child development...

by Lori Beaman | On 16 Feb 2007

When it Rains on the Sand Dunes

A desert journey, from a pool where both humans and camels drank, to a bavadi then to a water tap in Khaba village has some valuable lessons about the ground realities of the social forces around wate...

by Meera Baindur | On 16 Feb 2007

Social Medicine in the Twenty-First Century

In its launch issue in October 2004, PLoS Medicine signaled a strong interest in creating a journal that to the social conditions in which people live and work. The socially disadvantaged have less...

by Scott Stonington | On 23 Jan 2007

Health Is Still Social: Contemporary: Examples in the Age of the Genome

Social medicine is as important now as it has ever been. The fi eld of social medicine includes various social and cultural studies of health and medicine , and in this article, the focus is o...

by Timothy H. Holtz | On 23 Jan 2007

How Did Social Medicine Evolve, and Where is it Heading?

This essay briefl y examines some of the diverse developments of social medicine as an academic discipline and its links to political conceptualizations of the role of medicine in society. The...

by Dorothy Porter | On 10 Jan 2007

Impact of Reservations of Panchayat Pradhans on Targeting in West Bengal

The effect of randomized reservations of Pradhan (chief executive) positions in West Bengal local governments (panchayats) for women and members of Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) following t...

by Pranab Bardhan | On 27 Dec 2006

Pro-Poor Targeting and Accountability of Local Governments in West Bengal

A commonly alleged pitfall of decentralization is that poverty, socio-economic inequality and lack of political competition allow local elites to capture local governments. This hypothesis is empirica...

by Pranab Bardhan | On 27 Dec 2006

Beyond the Buzz: Panchayats, Water User Groups and Law in India

Close observers especially in the water and forestry sector point out that user organizations may not fit well within the system of local governance and “linking them to Panchayats may undermine thei...

by Videh Upadhyay | On 20 Dec 2006

Emerging Megalopolis: Bangalore, From ‘Boiled Beans’ Town to Advanced IT City

Historically, Bangalore’s growth and physical spread had been dictated by the location decisions of certain important industrial, institutional and residential activities, rather than as an outcome...

by G.S. Sastry | On 04 Dec 2006

Urban Studies: An Exploration in Theory and Practices

What is the character of our cities? What are the attributes of inequalities and social exclusions in towns, metropolises and mega cities? How do urban structures and forms characteristic of pre capit...

by Sujata Patel | On 18 Nov 2006

Targeting the Poorest in Microfinance: Poverty Outreach of BDP Ultra Poor Programme

Despite the general consensus that microfinance does not reach the poorest; recent evidence suggests that nearly 15% of microfinance clients in Bangladesh are among the poorest. It is from the realiza...

by Proloy Barua | On 25 Oct 2006

Do Television and Radio Destroy Social Capital? Evidence from Indonesian Villages

In "Bowling Alone," Putnam (1995) famously argued that the rise of television may be responsible for social capital's decline. I investigate this hypothesis in the context of Indonesian villages. To i...

by Benjamin A. Olken | On 13 Oct 2006

Book Review: Revisiting the Labour Movement

Review of Vincent C. Peloso(ed) Work, Protest, and Identity in Twentieth-Century Latin America, Jaguar Books on Latin America Series. The book is obviously designed for those teaching courses on 20t...

by Peter Blanchard | On 25 Sep 2006

State Against Democracy: Case Study in Orissa, India.

The tribal communities of Orissa face a massive new threat from legislation for conservation and forestry and their judicial interpretations, as well as from the increasing onslaughts of globalisat...

by Shyama Prasad Rout | On 29 Aug 2006

Community Contribution for Environmental Sanitation: Myth or Reality?

Reforms in water and sanitation sector intended to make stakeholders part of the implementation process. In the process beneficiaries share partial capital cost and meet 100 per cent of operation and...

by Veerashekarappa | On 12 Aug 2006

An Approach to the 11th Five Year Plan: Towards Faster and More Inclusive Growth

The 11th Plan provides an opportunity to restructure policies to achieve a new vision of growth that will be much more broad based and inclusive, bringing about a faster reduction in poverty and hel...

by Planning Commission | On 19 Jul 2006

WCD Working Papers: Dams and Cultural Heritage Manaagement

Recognising that the construction of large dams has also led to incalculable loss, destruction, and damage of cultural resources ranging from shrines of local communities to world heritage monuments,...

by Steven A. Brandt | On 01 Jun 2006

Estimating the Value of Agricultural Cropland and Pasteurland in India

The main aim of this study is to develop an accounting framework that reflects the real contribution of agricultural land and pastureland to society. The more specific objectives are to: 1 estimate...

by Haripriya Gundimeda | On 23 May 2006

Dynamics of Irrigation Institutions: Case Study of a Village Panchayat in Kerala

Based on field work in a village panchayat in Kerala, analyzing the complex issues concerning the development and working of irrigation institutions, the present study reveals that successful manage...

by Vineetha Menon | On 27 Apr 2006

Rivers for Life: Inspirations and Insights from the 2nd International Meeting of Dam-Affected and their Allies

On November 28, 2003, roughly 300 grassroots activists, people affected by large dams and representatives from NGOs gathered in a small village in Rasi Salai district in Northeast Thailand. They met...

by Susanne Wong | On 25 Apr 2006

Dams and Development

The dams debate is simple because behind the array of facts and figures, of economic statistics and engineering calculations, lie a number of basic and easily understood principles. If adhered to and...

by World Commission on Dams WCD | On 24 Apr 2006

Minimal Visible Inequality is Human Development

The urgent task ahead is the reduction of the visible inequalities in education, health and housing, thus contributing to a broad based evolution of human capabilities. As for the macroeconomic envir...

by Bhanoji Rao | On 11 Apr 2006

Some Key Issues in Policy, Pricing, Regulation, and Financing of Irrigation Development in India Today

This paper discusses the stylised problems relating to water and irrigation in India and argues tht most of the inefficeincies, misuse and environmental damage have their roots in the mispricing of wa...

by Sebastian Morris | On 24 Feb 2006

Assessing Effectiveness of Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929: Toothless is not Useless

Not all forms of tradition are good. How does civil society attempt to change these conventions? In particular can legislation be effective at all in such cases? Have there been instances when societ...

by Neeraj Hatekar | On 07 Feb 2006

Book Review: Health and Health Care in New Jersey Have a Lot of History

Review of: A State of Health: New Jersey's Medical Heritage by Karen Reeds. Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, 2001. Pp 142; $ 45. [Published on HNet, November 2005] A State of Health, like C...

by Sandra Moss | On 06 Feb 2006

Irrigation, Agrarian Change and Local Politics: in South Telengana, 1960-1996

This paper deals with the impact of irrigation on agrarian change and local politics in the period, 1960 to 1996 in the irrigated region of South Telengana, Andhra Pradesh. The article is based on a p...

by V. Anil Kumar | On 17 Jan 2006

Gautam Chattopadhyay (1924-2006): Street-fighting Historian

In tribute: Gautam Chattopadhyay's life and times.

by Kunal Chattopadhyay | On 11 Jan 2006

Choosing not to Participate--Evidence from Drought-Prone Area Programme in Chitradurg, Karnataka

This paper examines the evidence on the constraints that farmers face in participating in a programme evolved by 'somebody else' viz, ‘the government’, . The paper begins with a discussion on the typ...

by G.Ananda Vadivelu | On 09 Jan 2006

Dynamics of Local Governance in Karnataka

The objective of this paper is to unpack the dynamics of local governance in Karnataka by studying the interaction between two sets of rural institutions, (a) the formal, elected Gram Panchayats(GPs...

by Kripa Ananthpur | On 09 Jan 2006

Change in Karnataka over the Last Generation: Villages and the Wider Context

This paper examines changes that have (and have not) occurred – at the village level in Karnataka where most or the state’s residents live, and at higher levels when they impinge upon villages – sin...

by James Manor | On 09 Jan 2006

‘Urban Bias’ in the Flow of Funds and Deposit Mobilisation:Evidence from Karnataka, India

Until banking sector reforms were introduced in India in 1991, the emphasis in the credit provision through formal banking system was to meet the targets at the expense of the quality of credit and vi...

by Gagan Bihari Sahu | On 08 Dec 2005

Poverty Knowledge and Poverty Action: Evidence from Three States in India

Even as some households are coming out of poverty, other households are concurrently falling into poverty. Poverty creation and poverty destruction are proceeding alongside. A bottom-up methodology...

by Anirudh Krishna | On 08 Dec 2005

Gandhi’s Economic Thought and Modern Economic Development: Some Reflections

A fresh wave of globalisation since the early 1990s has created both hope and despair. Failure of state has reaffirmed faith in market based institutions. Expansion in trade across national borders an...

by Sudarshan Iyengar | On 07 Dec 2005

B.S.Minhas: 'Prescribing Rationality'

In his early years, B S Minhas, who passed away recently, enriched economics with his valued theoretical contributions that are today an integral part of economic literature. These were both acknowled...

by Deena Khatkhate | On 21 Nov 2005

Mughal Decline, Climate Change, and Britain’s Industrial Ascent:An Integrated Perspective on India’s 18th and 19th Century Deindustrialization

India was a major player in the world export market for textiles in the early 18th century, but by the middle of the 19th century it had lost all of its export market and much of its domestic market....

by David Clingingsmith | On 10 Nov 2005

Economic Backwardness in History: Deviation from a Eurocentric Theme

This paper aims to demonstrate that the economic behaviour of ordinary men and women in the pre-colonial Deccan was as much ‘capitalistic’ as that of similar agents in contemporary Europe. The differe...

by Neeraj Hatekar | On 21 Oct 2005

Peasant Movement in South Maharashtra: Not only 'Issue based' Anymore

The February agitation of farmers and the drought affected of rural South Maharashtra, in the form of a two-day ‘sit in’ last in Mumbai led to ministerial-level negotiations and several important deci...

by Anant Phadke | On 04 Oct 2005

SEPHIS, September 2005, Volume 2, no.1

Pravit Rojanaphruk:Thainess and its History: Reflection on the Problematic Nature of Nationalism with Emphasis on the Case of Recent Violence in Pattani and other Southern-most Provinces of Thailand. ...

by SEPHIS | On 17 Sep 2005

Market, Media And Mediocrity

Ignoring historical arguments on issues such as market, political economy, capital, and labour has great potential danger. The currently pervasive connotation of ‘liberalisation’ to mean virtually onl...

by Arup Maharatna | On 12 Sep 2005

Draft National Policy For Tribals:Suggestions For Improvement

The draft tribal policy (hereinafter referred as draft or DTP) prepared by the Ministry of Tribal affairs appears to be a mere reiteration of the existing policies and programmes. The paper suggests t...

by Naresh C. Saxena | On 12 Sep 2005

Multifunctional Agroforestry Systems In India For Livelihoods: Current Knowledge And Future Challenges

Land-use options that increase resilience and reduce vulnerability of contemporary societies are fundamental to livelihoods improvement and adaptation to environmental change. Agroforestry as a tradit...

by Deep Narayan Pandey | On 10 Sep 2005

Negotiating Reproductive Health Neds In A Conflict Situation In The Kashmir Valley

The years of turmoil in the Kashmir valley have resulted in a breakdown of the state machinery, especially the health infrastructure, with the breakdown of peripheral facilities and the migration of d...

by Zamrooda Khanday | On 10 Sep 2005

NAC Concept Paper-A Note On Agriculture And Irrigation

This note highlights the main issues and outlines the proposed action plan in respect of the following five major areas in Agriculture and Irrigation: (1) Augmentation of water resources for irrigati...

by C.H. Hanumantha Rao | On 09 Sep 2005

Opinion of Stakeholders towards the utility of Training materials

SUJALA Karnataka Watershed Development Program Opinion of Stakeholders towards the utility of Training materials Among selected Sujala SubWatershed of Karnataka State. Abstract Sujala, a Wo...

by Aashita Dawer | On 06 Sep 2005

Water Quality and Health Status In Kollam Municipality

In the context of outbreaks of a number of water borne diseases in the thickly populated district of Kollam, especially duing the monsoons, this study was undertaken to assess the quality of drinking...

by M K P Roy | On 16 Aug 2005

Agreement On South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA)

Motivated by the commitment to strengthen intra-SAARC economic cooperation to maximise the realization of the region's potential for trade and development for the benefit of their people, in a spirit...

by Anonymous | On 13 Aug 2005

Comment:Draft Nep: A Flawed Vision

The draft National Environment Policy represents the first-ever attempt to draft a policy for the environment as a whole. the draft is fundamentally flawed in its vision and its analysis of socio-envi...

by Sharatchandra Lele | On 08 Aug 2005

On Urban Infrastructure Development

It is incontrovertible that good infrastructure is central to all economic activity. It facilitates efficiency in key economic services, improves the economy’s competitiveness, and generates high prod...

by Abhay Pethe | On 05 Aug 2005

Issues of Pricing Urban Water

With urban expansion and the growth of population, Indian cities are not able to supply water services that are adequate both quantitatively and qualitatively. Most urban water supply authorities pref...

by Rajan Padwal | On 05 Aug 2005