Mark Schneider, Ph.D. (Columbia University, 2015) is a Political Scientist and Research Adviser who works with Community Change, National Democratic Institute, and other nonprofit organizations in Washington focused on elections, misinformation, and public policy.
About the Speaker:
If we consider recent elections in India, one could say that the seeds for alternative politics have been sown. But why, despite so much support in the media and its spectacular debut in Delhi, did the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) secure only four Lok Sabha seats? An understanding of the sociology of the elections, through the lens of Mewat, attempts to explore one aspect of this. While specific to Mewat, these observations are not necessarily unique to the region.
The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) were founded almost five decades ago with the objective of providing technological leadership to a new and resurgent India, driven by Nehru’s deep commitment to science-led development. Whether they provided technological leadership to India or not remains debatable given the large numbers of their (under) graduates who have migrated abroad or have shifted to non-technical careers.
Rahul Pandita is a Senior Editor with The Hindu, one of India's leading newspapers. He is a conflict writer, who has reported extensively from war zones, including Iraq and Sri Lanka. His vast experience in reporting on India's Maoist insurgency has resulted in two books: Hello, Bastar: The Untold Story of India's Maoist Movement and The Absent State. He is also the author of the best-selling memoir on Kashmir, Our Moon has Blood Clots. He is the recipient of the International Red Cross Award for conflict reporting. He lives in Delhi.
About the Speaker:
About the Speaker:
Sandipto Dasgupta is a Newton International Fellow of the Royal Society and British Academy. Trained both as a political scientist and a lawyer, his research interests lie at the intersection of legal and political theory. He is currently completing a book manuscript, provisionally titled Legalizing the Revolution, that reconstructs a distinct theory of constitutionalism through a detailed study of the Indian constitutional experience.
The drastic increase in trade volumes over the last few years is an impressive testament to the new Indian pivot to Sub-Saharan Africa; trade between India and Sub-Saharan Africa stood at $60 billion in 2012. Still, trade volumes in the same year were markedly eclipsed by those of the EU ($567.2 billion), the U.S. ($446.7 billion), and China ($220 billion). Nevertheless, India’s engagement shows a successful new focus on the region where it has implemented specific programs in the economic, political, and, especially, pan-African sphere.
Two months ago, India conducted the largest democratic exercise in history. The 2014 General Election, enacted in nine phases over a five-week period, witnessed 553.8 million voters cast ballots to constitute the 16th Lok Sabha. The resurgence of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) captured headlines and, in effect, diverted attention from a disconcerting growth in gross electoral spending. With an estimated $5 billion price tag, including a cost of nearly $600 million to the government exchequer, the recent election ranks among the costliest in the history of democracy.
