feni-in-goa Courtesy: GoaVilla
22 August 2019

Lifting Indian spirits with a GI tag

India’s traditions are finally getting their due – with a Geographical Indication tag. This opens up a world of soft power for India. The first GI tag was given to Darjeeling tea. Now, after over a decade, the first ever GI store has opened at Goa’s airport. One of the Goan products on sale is feni, a popular local brew, which, with its new GI tag, can make a global splash

shutterstock_1330442825 Courtesy: Shutterstock
15 August 2019

Sequencing Governance and Economic Growth

The Narendra Modi government came to power in India in 2014, promising "minimum government, maximum governance". Its roll-out of numerous government schemes meant that democracy and governance came before economic growth. But it returned Modi to power.Analysing the current debate on growth and governance the author explores how the sequencing of governance and economic outcomes is different in China, Turkey and India

EU-Parliament-Chamber-credit-European-Parliament Courtesy: LSE Blogs
23 May 2019

EU’s right coalesces

The German-French collaboration has been the motor of the European Union so far, but there has been a rise of resentment within the other European countries, with a mobilisation of right-wing parties and talk of an Italian-Polish motor instead, says Neelam Deo, Director and Co-Founder of Gateway House, in this interview. Elections to the European Parliament are taking place from May 23-26

2019_5_img23_May_2019_PTI5_23_ Courtesy: India Today
21 May 2019

Elections 2019: Making India Middle Class

The Bharatiya Janata Party, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been returned to power for another five years, till 2024. In the run-up to the national elections, the author travelled to Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, two of India’s most important states, to gauge the mood of the electorate, and to assess the economic and political conditions on the ground since the last election in 2014. She found a new generation with big dreams, and a population whose basic needs were being met. Economic citizenry has trumped identity politics. Modi is the leitmotif for this India, and they look to him to lead them into a middle class future.

D0UfkRXV4AAFoQf Courtesy: The Akshaya Patra Foundation/ Twitter
28 February 2019

Akshaya Patra: case study on food security

On Feb 26, the Akshaya Patra Foundation was conferred the prestigious Gandhi Peace Prize by the President of India. It began as a charitable venture in 2000, serving a nutritious lunch to 1,500 children in five Bangalore schools. The meal was so well received that a year later the Indian government mandated a nutritious lunch meal to be served in every government school. Akshaya Patra, a partner with the central and state government in this effort, is now the world’s largest mid-day meal programme, and served its 3 billionth meal this month. This successful public-private partnership uses high technology, engineering, world-class logistics and management to achieve its goals. But it also ensures India’s food security by sourcing grains and vegetables from local farmers, which in turn preserves the diversity of regional food habits and nutrition. Akshay Patra’s case study on food security was written especially for, and presented at, the ThinkTank20 (T20) meeting hosted by Gateway House in Mumbai in February 2018. The T20 is an official sub-forum of the G20, and the 2018 meeting was held under the G20 presidency of Argentina, one of the world’s largest producers and exporters of agricultural products. Food security and sustainable agriculture was one of the three key issues for Argentina’s G20 Presidency – a focus which India also shares

Rediffmail Courtesy: Rediffmail
6 December 2018

Modi a better CM than PM?

Academic and columnist M.D. Nalapat, in this interview with Manjeet Kripalani, speaks of how a tardy bureaucracy has brought about “a too-cautious” policy towards the U.S. and China as opposed to the former Gujarat chief minister’s greater openness in consulting people before handing over policy implementation to the bureaucracy. He also discusses the prime minister’s shrewd approach to South Asia, the dependable warmth of the Japanese and a range of other topics

chinese-poverty.1515419981 Courtesy: Fair Planet
13 November 2018

China’s poverty reduction vs others’

China recently celebrated 40 years since it began its successful poverty reduction effort, at a conference in Beijing. While lauding China's efforts, experts do recognise that different formulations work for different countries

Fort Cochin, India Courtesy: Wikipedia
9 August 2018

How India can keep the oceans prosperous

The notion of the oceans and seas as a global common is under severe test. National and regional interests are winning over the urgency to maintain their well being while competition to exploit the many commercial opportunities they present is ever increasing. The task at hand is to stop ocean decline – and India can play a transformative role in this