Penn Calendar Penn A-Z School of Arts and Sciences University of Pennsylvania

Society & Culture

Rethinking Internal Security in India

Paul Staniland
Monday, August 10, 2015

The ambush of Indian Army forces in Manipur, signing of a peace accord with the NSCN-IM in Nagaland, and Gurdaspur attacks have put internal security at the center of Narendra Modi’s agenda. India has a long history of dealing with armed groups, whether Naxalites, tribal separatists, or Kashmiri militants. Yet many of the lessons of India’s experience are consistently ignored in the popular and policy discourses on how to respond to armed groups. This history reveals important insights that have received insufficient attention.

भारत में आंतरिक सुरक्षा पर पुनर्विचार

Creating an Effective Regulatory Regime for Medical Devices in India

Ritu Kamal
Monday, July 27, 2015

Nearly a decade after the Government of India first announced its intentions to regulate the domestic medical device industry and after many interim, patchwork guidelines, a comprehensive draft National Medical Device Policy (NMDP-2015) has been issued and made public for review by interested stakeholders. Medical devices form a $200 billion global industry, which develops and manufactures essential healthcare equipment ranging in complexity from simple devices like thermometers and stethoscopes to complex devices like pacemakers, ultrasound machines and surgical robots.

भारत में चिकित्सा उपकरणों के लिए विनियामक व्यवस्था का निर्माण

Unholy Hatred: Lucknow’s Sectarian Violence and A Way Forward

Kunaal Sharma
Monday, July 13, 2015

Violence between Sunni and Shia Muslims in India has persisted for just over a century. Yet, the phenomenon has received far too little attention by political scientists, journalists, and Indian policymakers, who have almost exclusively focused on Hindu-Muslim violence. Continued neglect and delay in devising creative interventions aimed at reducing sectarian conflict could jeopardize the social cohesion of India, which will have more Muslims than any other country by the 2020s.

नापाक नफ़रतः लखनऊ में सामुदायिक हिंसा और आगे बढ़ने का मार्ग

Unpacking Wealth Inequality: A Case for Individual Level Data Collection

Hema Swaminathan
Monday, June 15, 2015

Discussions of wealth inequality are now in vogue following the global financial crash of 2007 and Thomas Piketty’s best-selling Capital. This is a welcome departure from the exclusive focus on poverty using calculations based on consumption surveys. Wealth is crucial for consumption smoothing and acts as a buffer to draw upon during times of distress. In many ways, wealth is more aligned with the concept of wellbeing than income or consumption. Wealth is also recognized for its role in creating opportunities for future generations.

संपत्ति की असमानता को उजागर करनाः व्यक्तिगत स्तर पर डैटा संग्रह का एक केस

Nepal: A Manifesto for Political Reform

Prashant Jha
Monday, May 18, 2015

Nepal was hit by a devastating earthquake on April 25th, and aftershocks – including a powerful one on May 12th – have continued to rock the country. Over eight thousand people have died. Over 600,000 houses are completely destroyed or partially damaged. Eight million people have been affected in some shape or form. Thousands of school buildings lie in ruins. Kathmandu has lost much of its cultural heritage. The tragedy is just unending, as millions remain homeless with monsoon season four weeks away. There is a resource crunch and supplies of essentials are inadequate.

नेपालः राजनैतिक सुधार के लिए घोषणा पत्र

How to Design the Next Land Acquisition Law

Sanjoy Chakravorty
Monday, April 6, 2015

A toxic mix of hypocrisy, amnesia, opportunism, ignorance, and paternalism has led to a mess on land acquisition legislation. The BJP is finding it difficult to gather enough support to pass its amendment to the Congress-made law and has begun sending mixed signals—maybe they will hold a joint session of parliament to hash this out; maybe they will reissue the ordinance that it tried to turn into an amendment; maybe the states can pick and choose, maybe they don’t have to adhere to the parts of the amended law they don’t like.

नया भूमि अधिग्रहण कानून कैसे बनाया जाए

Of Pipes and Slums: Understanding Mumbai’s Proposed New Water Rules for Residents of “Illegal Structures”

Lisa Björkman
Monday, March 23, 2015

Two decades ago, a dramatic shift took place in the rules governing the provision of piped municipal water supply in Mumbai. In this shift, access to municipal water for residents of the city’s popular neighborhoods and “slums” became linked to the rules governing eligibility for inclusion in slum rehabilitation housing schemes.

पाइप और झोपड़पट्टीः “गैर-कानूनी बस्तियों” के निवासियों के लिए मुंबई की नई प्रस्तावित जल योजना पर सोच-विचार

Assessing Regional Cooperation in South Asia and Beyond

Arndt Michael
Monday, March 9, 2015

On May 26, 2014, Narendra Modi invited the heads of all the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) member countries to his swearing-in ceremony. While this important gesture could have marked a new beginning for regional cooperation, such cooperation in South Asia still takes place mainly in the bilateral sphere. Since 1985, India has been a key founding member of four regional initiatives, none of which have achieved any tangible results.

दक्षिण एशिया और उसके पार क्षेत्रीय सहयोग का मूल्यांकन

Non-Communicable Diseases in India: Dispensing with the Global and Zeroing In on the Domestic

Karthik Nachiappan
Monday, February 23, 2015

Near the end of President Obama’s recent visit to India, he recorded a radio broadcast with Prime Minister Modi. On the air, Obama indicated a desire to work on public health issues in India once his term ends. One of the issues he referred to, in particular, was obesity, a growing health challenge worldwide. Obesity contributes to several non-communicable diseases (NCDs) that have been garnering more international attention. NCDs refer to health challenges that are largely chronic, evolve gradually, and get progressively worse until tackled.

भारत में गैर-संचारी रोग (NCDs): वैश्विक स्तर पर इससे निपटना और घरेलू स्तर पर इसका निर्मूलन

NREGS: Revamp or R.I.P.?

Abhiroop Mukhopadhyay
Monday, December 29, 2014

Is NREGS suffering a mid life crisis or are we staring at its death? From a budget of INR 401 Billion in 2010-11, it has plummeted to INR 330 Billion in 2013-2014. Given the much higher wages currently offered to workers, it has taken a serious hit. The position taken by government officials (and many economists) is that there is a general lack of interest in NREGS. The rise in agricultural real wages over the period 2004-05 to 2011-12, coupled with a general dismay regarding quality of assets produced and evidence of corruption, has led to a call for a scaling down of NREGS.

नरेगाः पुनरुद्धार हो या खत्म हो ?