Time to promote private heavy-lift rockets
Chandrayaan-2’s postponed launch is no cause for disappointment. It gives India a chance to draw in the skills of the private sector to accelerate heavy-lift rocket manufacturing
Chandrayaan-2’s postponed launch is no cause for disappointment. It gives India a chance to draw in the skills of the private sector to accelerate heavy-lift rocket manufacturing
The United Nations’ 2015 Paris Agreement called for the immediate sequestration of atmospheric anthropogenic greenhouse gases to help avert serious environmental degradation. India can take the lead in this because it is the second largest emitter of methane. Of all the natural greenhouse gases, methane is the hardiest. Technological advances are making it possible to crack methane into gaseous hydrogen and solid carbon on a commercial scale. Methane cracking can provide a steady supply of hydrogen for futuristic transportation and solid carbon materials — graphene, carbon nanotubes, synthetic diamonds — which are integral to the marine, aerospace and space industries. The commercial benefits apart, methane cracking will also go a long way in meeting the Paris Agreement’s climate change mitigation objectives. This paper offers some concrete recommendations that can help the government of India shape national legislation and global geoeconomic strategies
India is the second largest emitter of methane in the world. But methane-cracking has enormous economic potential. It can help India become a high-technology manufacturing powerhouse by producing a steady supply of methane-derived, advanced carbon materials and hydrogen-energized transportation
Data localisation, or the practice of physically storing data on servers located within a country, has become a subject of robust debate after India introduced data localisation provisions in its domestic laws. India’s position is not unique; China and Russia too have similar laws. It has pitted countries against each other. This Gateway House primer explains the complexities of data localisation and its elements
This book offers a ringside view of evolving Indo-U.S. ties under two conservative leaders, both engaged in mixing nationalism, religion and populism to advance the global capitalist order. The title points to an interesting departure from the more orthodox view of the bilateral relationship, which is usually from the prism of discord or estrangement
The 2019 G20 Summit in Osaka on June 28-29, is the 14th meeting of the Group of 20 leaders. The G20 is the world’s most influential economic multilateral forum. It is the agenda-setting forum that develops and guides rules of global economic governance. Under the Japanese Presidency, this summit will be the first to discuss and establish the rules for the worldwide governance of data, including current hot-button issues like data localisation and data sovereignty. India has both a preparatory and a contributory role to play in the G20 this year. For in 2022, it will be the President of the G20. India must identify its agenda early on; its a weighty responsibility but also an opportunity to set the global economic agenda.
The U.S.-China trade dispute and Australia’s concerns about China’s growing influence in its internal affairs and the neighbourhood present an opportunity for New Delhi and Canberra to step up their security engagement, bilaterally, and in the Indo-Pacific
The extradition bill for Hong Kong, which drew massive protests, has been put into suspension. The bill is not just a matter of concern for the island state, but a global signal too. The people of Hong Kong want it to withdrawn completely and are pushing for the issue to be raised at the G20 Osaka summit on 28-29 June 2019
India’s foreign minister S. Jaishankar and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have sorted through the India-US niggles and minutae, so that the substance of the bilateral can be advanced by their leaders who are meeting in Osaka this week
The imminent expiration of the terms of some members of the WTO Appellate Body, with neither any signs of their extension nor appointments being made afresh, suggests that this crisis will intensify. An analysis of all that ails the WTO Appellate Body, and the implications this has for India and the multilateral trading system