Since the 1980s, the world’s governments have decreased state welfare rhetoric and policy, and the proportion of unprotected “informal” workers has expanded. The result has been an increase in the proportion of the world’s workers who do not receive secure wages or social benefits from employers or the state. India is no exception to these global trends; according to the Government of India’s 2005 Sample Survey on Employment and Unemployment (NSS) 93 percent of India’s total labor force, and 82 percent of its non-agricultural labor force is informally employed.

India is widely lauded as a model for emerging democracies around the world.  An unlikely survivor as a democratic nation, it has managed to maintain and strengthen its democratic traditions over the past six decades. However, the Indian Parliament, which is expected to reflect and give shape to the aspirations of a billion people, has been under some strain in recent years.

In March 2005, within six months of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government coming to power, the Sachar Committee, was set up to analyze the conditions of Muslims in India and suggest ways to ameliorate their socio-economic and educational conditions. The cabinet approved the recommendations of the committee with alacrity and the Ministry of Minority Affairs was made the nodal ministry to monitor implementation.

Growing water scarcity is being recognized as an important problem facing India. Per capita availability of water in India has declined from over 3,000 cubic meters (CuM) per year from 1951 to 1,820 CuM in 2001. In nine out of twenty river basins, per capita availability of water is below 1,700 CuM per year, indicating that India is experiencing severe water stress. In particular, the status of groundwater resources of the country is a matter of serious concern.

In 2010, the Khap Panchayats of Haryana launched a vociferous demand to amend the Hindu Marriage Act to prohibit marriages between persons of the same gotra, who are descendants in an unbroken male line from a common male ancestor. Khaps are caste councils among the Jats who function as a deliberate adjudicative body over their caste members.

Attired in bright silks, adorned with elaborate jewels, bells on ankles, and moving with stylized facial expressions and hand gestures to artfully sliding melodies atop a continuous, complex percussion accompaniment; this performer would be the visual representation of Indian dance for audience members ranging from first-time viewers to spectators more familiar with the art form.

Despite the popular rhetoric of “rising India,” a common argument amongst scholars is that India lacks a grand strategy. Elites are said to rely on “ad hocism,” India’s preferred guiding star, on matters related to foreign policy. The absence of strategic thought is not only a given, but re-enforced by the lack of a visible foreign policy template that is seriously discussed, argued, and made available for public consumption.

At the recently concluded UN Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP-16) at Cancun, banners of civil society groups hopefully and expectantly urged “Cancun Can.” And it did; at the end of two weeks of exhausting discussions and negotiations, the world has taken a small but sure step towards a meaningful set of global agreements on climate change.

Sustained economic growth over the past decade has triggered dramatic changes in the way that Indian cities relate to villages, a relationship that is often described as a continuum.Whether associated with the aggressive expansion of private enterprise that sees great potential in rural markets, or the government’s burgeoning welfare schemes, or indeed, the policies shaped through “public-private partnerships,” the pressures associated with this churning are felt at many levels.This is especially true for those organizations working in rural areas that were est

As the next round of international negotiations over climate change commences in Cancun, Mexico, the Indian government finds itself on center stage. In the lead up, the Indian environment minister has stated that India would proffer a framework for monitoring emissions-reduction efforts, known as the International Consultation Analysis (ICA), and a mechanism for technology transfer.