The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) defines Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) as a policy tool used to ‘identify the environmental, social and economic impacts of a project prior to decision-making’. It is aimed at foresighting negative (and avoidable) environmental impacts of the design and planning of different infrastructural projects, in their initial stages, finding ways and creating roadmaps to reduce these adverse impacts, encouraging the idea to construct these projects to align their vision with the optimisation of local environment, and lastly, lay down a framework f ..read more

India ranks 112th out of 153 countries in the Global Gender Gap Index as per the Global Gender Gap Report 2020 that was published by the World Economic Forum. In 2006, in the first report, India was placed 98th and in 2019, her rank was 108. The fall in rank is attributed to widening gender disparity on the parameters of health and survival (ranked 150), and economic participation (ranked 149). The health and survival parameter takes into account sex ratio at birth and healthy life expectancy. This article explores the scope of women’s access to healthcare in India. Accessibility has five key ..read more

Update August 10, 2020, 1630hrs: Sachin Pilot is said to have met former Congress Party President Rahul Gandhi and news sources predict a conciliation is on the anvil. Updates will be posted here as the situation evolves. The analysis of the court verdict however, continues to remain relevant. The current political state of affairs in Rajasthan is at sixes and sevens and is reigning the headlines of every news channel in India. The two political moguls, Chief Minister of Rajasthan Ashok Gehlot and former deputy Chief Minister and President of the Rajasthan Division of Congress, Sachin Pilot ..read more

Different constitutions all around the world have, time and again, vehemently discouraged excessive and stringent restrictions imposed by Courts while granting bail to an accused. Be it England’s Bill of Rights, or American Constitution’s Eighth Amendment, the Courts has always advocated that excessive constraints or hefty monetary punishments are against the order of law and that restrictions while granting bail should be tailored in such a manner that they are least intrusive in nature. The Criminal Law in India is drafted on the same lines as far as the restrictive bail conditions are conc ..read more

When the pandemic hit Dharavi, Mumbai’s densely populated slum, fear gripped the residents. To practice social distancing in a 2.5 sq km area with a population density of 2,27,136 per sq km seemed like an impossible task. Two months later, on July 11th, Dharavi reported only one case, owing to a combination of strategies followed by BMC– aggressive tracking and testing, strong health infrastructure and strategic public-private partnerships. (Shaikh, 2020) While Dharavi has been hailed as a global role model, things have not been so optimistic for the rest of Mumbai, which is struggling to fla ..read more

Of late, New Delhi has responded to border skirmishes with China, which eventually took a deadly turn, with policy action that aims to make its economy more insular with respect to external shocks. In light of these events, here’s delineating a know-how of India’s trade relations with its neighbour. China is Asia’s largest economy and the world’s second-largest, with a Gross Domestic Product of about $13.6 trillion in 2016. India is currently at number three in Asia at $2.7 trillion. From supplying industrial components and raw materials for India’s industries to interconnectivity investments ..read more

In the decision granting bail to the accused that was rendered by the Hon’ble High Court of Karnataka in Sri Rakesh B v State of Karnataka, Justice Krishna S Dixit observed: “the explanation offered by the complainant that after the perpetration of the act she was tired and fell asleep is unbecoming of an Indian woman; that is not the way our women react when they are ravished.” The said observation has since been deleted from the order post responses from the civil society citing the deeply entrenched misogynistic and patriarchal connotations. However, it is worth noting that this is not the ..read more

CPU or the processor is an integral component of any computer hardware with the most important task of assigning jobs to the rest of the parts. It makes or breaks the performance power. Computers in the electronic section of stores exude their charm with eye-catching branding about their processors laden with complex numbers illustrating extreme speeds and power. For the last few years, three major players have ruled this market: Intel: The most famous and largest processor manufacturer preferred by the likes of HP, Samsung, Dell and Apple (but only until recently). Best known for a wholistic ..read more

When the Cold War ended more than 25 years ago, liberal optimism entranced policymakers and political theorists across the West. The Soviet system had suddenly disintegrated. It was time for the universal triumph of western liberalism. Trade deals were signed and democracies took birth in Eastern Europe. International institutions were erected on the principle of free markets and rising powers like India and China opened up their economies. Emerged from this euphoria, Samuel P. Huntington’s essay “The Clash of Civilisations?” that bluntly rejected that optimism. It generated considerable back ..read more

The Chinese parliament agreed to move ahead with the national security legislation for Hong Kong, which has raised tensions in the city. The National People’s Congress (NPC) voted 2878 as against 1, and 6 abstentions in favor of empowering a standing committee to draft the legislation. The law aims to forbid secession, subversion, terrorism and acts jeopardizing national security. Back in July 1997, when the British lowered their flag in Hong Kong and handed over the prosperous colony to China, they agreed on a unique agreement wherein Hong Kong could retain ‘a high degree of autonomy’ as wel ..read more