#study public policy in india

[indian-school-of-public-policy]

Valedictorian's Speech II CONVOCATION 2021

Before coming to ISPP Nikhil Kanakamedala worked with Centre for Social Action (CSA), Impact App and VA Tech Wabag Ltd. He loves to read, write and trek. Nikhil, now works for JPAL and is the Valedictorian for the Class of 2021. Here’s Nikhil’s valedictorian speech from 16th July 2021.

[xtruss]

World: A Growing BRICS Bloc Shows U.S. Is Losing the Battle for the Global South

— BY Tom O'Connor | August 22, 2023

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa Delivers a Speech at the 15th BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa. © Sputnik/Grigory Sysoev/Go to the Mediabank

While Russian President Vladimir Putin's in-person absence due to international legal troubles looms over the BRICS conference attended by the leaders of fellow member states Brazil, India, China and South Africa, the growing interest in expanding the group to include additional countries from across the globe is likely to cement the bloc's future as a force in global geopolitics.

And with no seat at the table for the United States, the three-day summit that began Tuesday in Johannesburg demonstrates how Washington has struggled to project influence throughout the vast, developing Global South.

"The U.S. is trailing countries such as Russia, India and China in the Global South," Akhil Ramesh, a senior fellow at the Hawaii-based Pacific Forum, told Newsweek. "The Global South does not have this special solidarity it has with nations such as China and India. As victims of Western imperialism/colonialism and having faced similar challenges in reconstruction and development, they have a unique solidarity."

"The U.S. approach continues to be one where they use nations of the Global South as pawns in their future, larger cold/hot conflict with China or Russia," Ramesh added. "This understandably has not helped them win friends."

Such solidarity continues to extend to Putin, who has accelerated his country's outreach to developing nations, especially in Africa, in recent years.

Moscow's overtures have been met with ongoing interest, as evidenced by the recent Russia-Africa Summit in Saint Petersburg. The summit was attended by 16 African heads of state and representatives of 25 additional African countries, even as the West has accused Putin of war crimes, resulting in an International Criminal Court warrant, and of weaponizing food by bombing grain infrastructure and allowing a deal that safeguarded the continued export of Ukrainian grains via the Black Sea to collapse.

U.S. warnings about forging closer economic ties with China have been met with even stiffer resistance, as President Xi Jinping presses on with his ambitious Belt and Road Initiative extending across continents despite a slowing economy at home.

Ramesh argued that nations of the Global South simply "do not view Beijing and Moscow the same way the West does," and instead see new opportunities where traditional mechanisms have failed.

"So, when there was a group presenting an alternative to the Western-led world order/vision of the world," he added, "nations were quick to jump on the bandwagon."

Newsweek has reached out to the U.S. State Department for comment.

Still, obstacles to progress exist within a bloc whose core members already have little alignment in their broader geopolitical goals, while some, especially China and India, have active disputes between them. Such feuds have the potential to only grow as the coalition considers taking on new members, such as Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Others who have applied include Algeria 🇩🇿, Argentina 🇦🇷, Bahrain 🇧🇭, Bangladesh 🇧🇩, Belarus 🇧🇾, Bolivia 🇧🇴, Cuba 🇨🇺, Egypt 🇪🇬, Ethiopia 🇪🇹, Honduras 🇭🇳, Indonesia 🇮🇩, Kazakhstan 🇰🇿, Kuwait 🇰🇼, Morocco 🇲🇦, Nigeria 🇳🇬, the Palestinian National Authority 🇵🇸, Senegal 🇸🇳, Thailand 🇹🇭, the United Arab Emirates 🇦🇪, Venezuela 🇻🇪 and Vietnam 🇻🇳, according to the most recent count offered last week by South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor.

Brazil, Lula, arrives, BRICS, summit, South, Africa! Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva arrives in Johannesburg, South Africa ahead of the 15th BRICS summit. The leaders of 67 countries have been invited to join the forum led by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Ricardo Stuckert/Presidency of The Federative Republic of Brazil

"Those who are there for the day-to-day negotiations, at least from the Brazilian government side, say it is already very hard to come to consensus when you have China, India and Russia at the table," Ana Elisa Saggioro Garcia, a professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro's Institute of International Relations and general coordinator of the BRICS Policy Center, told Newsweek.

But "there's another side of the story," she said. That's the growing view, including from Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, that "a strong BRICS" is necessary, and a "strong BRICS is also a big BRICS."

South Africa, the current chair, is the only nation to have been added to what began as an informal BRIC bloc, born out of a term coined by then-Goldman Sachs chief economist Jim O'Neill in 2001 to describe emerging economic powers. Russia led the initiative to bring Brazil, China and India together for the first summit in 2009, and South Africa was admitted the following year.

Initially, BRICS was focused on effecting reform within existing, primarily Western-led economic institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis.

"The first common agenda that they had, despite their differences, was the reform of the international financial architecture," Garcia said. "So, international financial institutions, those grounded in the Bretton Woods Conference, in the post-war period, they do not represent the world anymore. Those huge economies don't have enough voice in those institutions, they need to be reformed. They need to reflect the new configuration of the world economic power."

© Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Go to the Mediabank

Gradually, the group became more focused on creating alternative mechanisms, most notably in the establishment in 2014 of the Shanghai-based New Development Bank, which today also counts Bangladesh, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates as members. With this transformation, Garcia explained, "the geopolitical character of BRICS started to be more important and more relevant than only the economic one."

China, in particular, she argued, "has been very clever and very strategic to use this opportunity to advance and to expand another coalition where China is predominant, where China doesn't have to deal with negotiations with Western powers."

But as evidenced by Brazil's enthusiasm for a more active role for BRICS and the growing list of prospective members, it's not all about Beijing.

"BRICS has become this pole of attraction of all countries now who've seen that they can have more power if they ally with a coalition such as BRICS to face measures that the West has been doing for years now," Garcia said, "and also to face these sorts of constraints and repression in terms of worldview and values."

Ryan Berg, director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies' (CSIS) Americas Program in Washington, D.C., also discussed how countries like Brazil were becoming more interested in the geopolitical nature of BRICS as an exercise in "active nonalignment."

"It can heighten the relevance of a country like Brazil, which is sometimes overlooked and feels overlooked and neglected," Berg said in response to Newsweek's question during a CSIS call held in the leadup to the BRICS summit.

"By pursuing this strategy," he explained, "you can basically make it a competition for the affection or for the attention of major world powers or leading world powers that would otherwise overlook Brazil's position on a particular issue."

BRICS, Summit, South, Africa, 2018! (Left to right) Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Russian President Vladimir Putin and then-Brazilian President Michel Temer pose for a group picture during the 10th BRICS summit on July 26, 2018 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa. South Africa's most populous city against hosts the BRICS summit in 2023, after each of the other four members hosted gatherings, three of which were virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mike Hutchings/POOL/AFP/Getty Images

Speaking on the same call, CSIS Africa Program director Mvemba Phezo Dizolele highlighted the importance of the host nation itself, saying BRICS membership "strengthened the position of South Africa among non-aligned countries" at a polarizing time in global geopolitics.

"Non-aligned countries have absolutely been at odds at least with Western countries, particularly ideologically because they do not want to align either with the Russians or with the United States and allies," Dizolele said.

A key goal for the summit's participants "will be discussing their disillusionment with U.S. leadership or at least the U.S.-led coalition around the world and how that world order is affecting adversely the countries of the Global South," he said, noting that "this will be a time when they will be seeking an alternative to that power."

The phenomenon of a competition among major powers to court the Global South was also observed by Mrityunjay Tripathi, a research fellow at the New Delhi-based Public Policy Research Center who previously served as part of India's delegation to the 2018 BRICS Youth Summit in South Africa.

"U.S. attempts to engage the Global South will only benefit the region, as the U.S. will act as a balancing power in the region dominated by China," Tripathi told Newsweek. "This competition will only benefit the developing economies and the multipolarity of the BRICS will ensure that region remains free and open to all."

Here, he said that "the presence of India adds credibility to BRICS and assures the West that India will act as a balancing power in the alliance that consists of Russia and China."

While New Delhi and Washington have strengthened ties in recent years, this does not mean total alignment in their positions. Tripathi argued that the trends apparent in the summit and context surrounding it show that Washington was on the backfoot in this competition over developing nations.

BRICS, Business, Forum, meets, in, South, Africa! (From left to right) Shaogang Zhang, vice chair of China's Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Onkar Singh Kanwar, chair of the BRICS Business Council's India chapter, Sergei Katyrin, chair of the BRICS Business Council's Russia chapter, José Serrador, chair of the BRICS Business Council's Brazil chapter, Busi Mabuza, chair of the BRICS Business Council's South Africa chapter, and Nozipho Tshabalala, CEO of the Conversation Strategist, attend a panel discussion during the 2023 BRICS Business Forum in Sandton, north of Johannesburg, South Africa, on August 22. Gianluigi Guercia/AFP/Getty Images

"The growing interest in BRICS does suggest that the U.S.' attempts to assert influence, particularly across the Global South, have not always produced desired results," Tripathi said. "The rise of BRICS is indicative of a shift in power dynamics from the traditionally Western-dominated world order to a more multipolar global scenario."

A key part of this shift identified by Tripathi was not only expansion, but the vision of "instituting a common currency," something that "further solidifies the group's commitment to long-term sustainable progress of the Global South."

"A common currency will not only boost intra-BRICS trade," he added," but also eliminate the high dollar conversion costs of international transactions."

Shen Shiwei, a journalist and analyst with a background in Chinese business dealings in Africa and the Middle East, argued that "the only thing that can beat the U.S. dollar is the dollar itself, driven by weaponization from Washington."

"The global trend of increasing the use of multiple currencies, instead of fully relying on U.S. dollars, is not a new idea," Shen told Newsweek. "Three decades ago, the euro was created in part because the majority of the EU wanted to move away from its deep reliance on the U.S. dollar."

"The dollar is still essential to global investments and trade," he added, "but the process of de-dollarization is accelerating, mainly because its weaponization has caused an erosion of confidence and alerted emerging economies to take actions to safeguard economic security."

People walk past a banner outside the venue for the 2023 BRICS Summit at the Sandton Convention Centre in Sandton, Johannesburg, on August 20. The BRICS countries, an acronym of the five members Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, meet for three days for a summit in Johannesburg from August 22-24. Gianluigi Guercia/AFP/Getty Images

The U.S. dollar continues to command a significant lead against competitors, comprising some 59 percent of the world's foreign exchange reserves. The euro constitutes around 20 percent, with other currencies such as the Japanese yen, the United Kingdom's pound sterling and the Chinese renminbi in the single digits.

Still, a number of countries, particularly members of BRICS, have called for conducting bilateral trade in their own national currencies, and the idea of a common currency has been increasingly put forth. In April, Lula delivered an impassioned speech at the New Development Bank headquarters in which he railed against the notion that "all countries are forced to do their trade backed by the dollar."

The message has continued to gain traction among existing and prospective BRICS members.

"But that doesn't mean BRICS is anti-West," Shen said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses BRICS summit in South Africa, August 22, 2023. © Sputnik/Grigory Sysoev

He argued that "the zero-sum game narrative developed in the West that the BRICS was created as competition to the G7 or the Global North is very misleading."

The G7, officially the Group of Seven, is a bloc consisting of the world's largest developed economies, including Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States and the U.K., with participation from the European Union as well. The G7 existed as the G8 until 2014, when it was expelled due to its role in the first major outbreak of conflict in Ukraine.

"All BRICS members have important political and economic cooperation with the G7 countries," Shen said. "More importantly, BRICS doesn't want to copy the Western hegemony in mentality and reality, which has brought too many problems to the Global South."

As opposed to the G7, "the BRICS mechanism has met the demands of the Global South, especially marginalized countries, to advance a collective agenda and push the building of a more inclusive, representative, just and fair global architecture," Shen argued.

"BRICS is not an exclusive club or small circle," he added, "but a big family of good partners."

[probablyasocialecologist]

Where poverty has declined, it was not capitalism but rather progressive social movements and public policies, arising in the mid-20th century, that freed people from deprivation. While more research is needed to confirm this point, it is worth noting that these findings are consistent with previous studies. Amartya Sen (1981) finds that between 1960 and 1977, the countries that made the strongest achievements in life expectancy and literacy were those that invested in public provisioning. Countries governed by communist parties (Cuba, Vietnam, China, etc.) performed exceptionally well, as did countries with state-led industrial policies (South Korea, Taiwan, etc.). Similarly, Cereseto and Waitzkin (1986) find that in 1980, socialist planned economies performed better on life expectancy, mean years of schooling, and other social indicators than their capitalist counterparts at a similar level of economic development. Navarro (1993) reached similar conclusions: when it comes to life expectancy and mortality, Cuba performed considerably better than the capitalist states of Latin America, and China performs better than India. Navarro also found that, amongst the developed capitalist countries, the social democracies with generous welfare states (i.e., Scandinavia) have superior health outcomes to neo-liberal states like the US. Poverty alleviation and gains in human health have historically been linked to socialist political movements and public action, not to capitalism.

Dylan Sullivan and Jason Hickel, Capitalism and extreme poverty: A global analysis of real wages, human height, and mortality since the long 16th century

[wumblr]

i've said this several times already, but if you want to understand why the news can't even air the phrase "settler-colonialism," which has been accepted as a term in political theory for decades, it's because the imperial core is obviously predicated on it.

if you're wondering why the united nations has no means to effective global governance, it's because the organization was specifically and explicitly convened to replace the league of nations in response to the advent of the nuclear bomb, and to prevent another world war.

the five permanent members of the security council are, not coincidentally, the same countries that have (arbitrarily) 200 or more warheads (which abitrarily excludes pakistan, india, israel, and north korea, for having fewer than 200 of them).

this is widely but very quietly acknowledged as a "nuclear veto," because if a security council member objected to UN governance, they could simply employ the threat of mutually assured destruction.

which, if you want to get down to nuts and bolts, logistically does require some hundred warheads, in order to be a credible threat, although the number 200 is arbitrary. as i've said before, the threat of nuclear winter, as outlined in the original study, is not radiation itself, it's crop loss from occlusion of the sun by soot and smoke. the threat is credible specifically because of its scale. (a similar threat could be made with conventional munitions of approximately equal yield, although manufacturing them would be prohibitively difficult.)

and if you really want to dig into the nuclear aspect of settler-colonialism, you have to recognize the structural use of mining, refining, waste management, and exposure payout: the bomb is simply not the most useful weapon in the field of nuclear policy. the gamble is that nuclear bureaucracy will outlive anyone who wants to object to it, and so far this has been a very profitable bet.

if we could, like, advance the discussion in the public sphere to the basic acknowledgment of this point... it might fucking help! on a personal level i'm tired of being practically the only person to say it

[wilsonaccount]

Science is a rigorous, systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the world.[1][2] Modern science is typically divided into three major branches:[3] the natural sciences (e.g., physics, chemistry, and biology), which study the physical world; the social sciences (e.g., economics, psychology, and sociology), which study individuals and societies;[4][5] and the formal sciences (e.g., logic, mathematics, and theoretical computer science), which study formal systems, governed by axioms and rules.[6][7] There is disagreement whether the formal sciences are science disciplines,[8][9][10] because they do not rely on empirical evidence.[11][9] Applied sciences are disciplines that use scientific knowledge for practical purposes, such as in engineering and medicine.[12][13][14]

The history of science spans the majority of the historical record, with the earliest written records of identifiable predecessors to modern science dating to Bronze Age Egypt and Mesopotamia from around 3000 to 1200 BCE. Their contributions to mathematics, astronomy, and medicine entered and shaped the Greek natural philosophy of classical antiquity, whereby formal attempts were made to provide explanations of events in the physical world based on natural causes, while further advancements, including the introduction of the Hindu–Arabic numeral system, were made during the Golden Age of India.[15]: 12 [16][17][18] Scientific research deteriorated in these regions after the fall of the Western Roman Empire during the early middle ages (400 to 1000 CE), but in the Medieval renaissances (Carolingian Renaissance, Ottonian Renaissance and the Renaissance of the 12th century) scholarship flourished again. Some Greek manuscripts lost in Western Europe were preserved and expanded upon in the Middle East during the Islamic Golden Age[19] and later by the efforts of Byzantine Greek scholars who brought Greek manuscripts from the dying Byzantine Empire to Western Europe in the Renaissance.

The recovery and assimilation of Greek works and Islamic inquiries into Western Europe from the 10th to 13th century revived "natural philosophy",[20][21][22] which was later transformed by the Scientific Revolution that began in the 16th century[23] as new ideas and discoveries departed from previous Greek conceptions and traditions.[24][25] The scientific method soon played a greater role in knowledge creation and it was not until the 19th century that many of the institutional and professional features of science began to take shape,[26][27] along with the changing of "natural philosophy" to "natural science".[28]

New knowledge in science is advanced by research from scientists who are motivated by curiosity about the world and a desire to solve problems.[29][30] Contemporary scientific research is highly collaborative and is usually done by teams in academic and research institutions,[31] government agencies, and companies.[32][33] The practical impact of their work has led to the emergence of science policies that seek to influence the scientific enterprise by prioritizing the ethical and moral development of commercial products, armaments, health care, public infrastructure, and environmental protection.

[wherestoriescomefrom]

What do you do to be anti caste in praxis

tricky question, idk how to answer this properly. i'll go for it in as practical a way as possible:

participating in public culture method: i'm a phd student, and yes, the student unions in india have really suffered in the last few years, but i was and am part of my previous university's union as well as my current one. i will admit this isn't a perfect answer to participating in public culture, because i do have it easy. i'm generally privileged, and yes, while it was very difficult going against my whole family during some of the movements and protests and putting my future on the line a few times, i still have it a lot easier than many people who come from more marginalised backgrounds. jnu also had some ready political parties for me to support (my particular favourite was BASO and BAPSA), but i think there are many parties that do organise on anti-caste lines, no matter how problematic they are. i have some issues with Chandrashekhar Azad in relation to gender and sexuality, but on the whole, Bhim Army does some decent work. i'd love to vote for BSP (as i am from UP some of this might be related to UP) but i fear they have very little chance of winning, and the situation in UP is very bet on a horse that has a chance right now. i think this is one of the most obvious ways to get policy changes started, if nothing else, which is why i think it is actually important to participate in public culture. i know everyone can't do it, but i make it a point to go home to vote for every major election. however, i also know this is very tricky for people depending on where they are in life. i had very little agency when i was in undergraduate, but i have more now, so that helps.

helping people around you method: this is trickier because it has involved a lot of serious unlearning on my end, because i was and am casteist in ways that show up, and this is the part that really involves making friends with people who are explicitly Not Like Me. and that also means i have to be a friendly, caring, and generally kind individual or no one will want to be friends with me. but this is also one of the best methods - once you are perceived as generally kind and caring by your peers, they are more open about what they might need, and then you can REALLY use your caste privilege for support. and i don't want to say this like an upper caste saviour or anything, but you can really use your privilege to amplify other people's needs and wants. like a bulwark?? you know what i mean. one of the reasons why i ended up on the forefront of negotiations with my teachers was because i was an upper caste girl who generally spoke well and had the privilege to not back down. it was mostly very straightforward things, like my friends not having access to decent internet during the pandemic and needing extensions on all their assignments, but this is something that was doable and we managed it together (literally i remember as i composed messages on one chat with the teachers, i had ann and huda going off on the side about what else we could say and we strategised together. good times). helping the people around you is also one of the easiest ways to learn more: i have a friend for whom i have done a lot of free editing over the years and it's usually dalit studies related, and when i say the research makes you rethink your whole life, the urban employment market, and also your worldview, i really mean it. and of course, this goes without saying, but being generally kind to everyone around you. this is also one of the best and most foolproof ways to make lifelong friends and i think that's just an added bonus of being anti caste, because it DOES give you a fuller life and more caring people around you. and this might sound a bit kitschy and cute, but i am fundamentally of the belief that all praxis and change has to be rooted, intrinsically, in love for the people around you. which is why this method is the one that has been the most fulfilling for me, personally.

talking to my relatives method: the details of which really vary from person to person, but @metamatar has a handy guide here, and i also really like doing something funky with mine (my parents, i mean), which is to make them follow the lack of resources. for example, i was giving an interview at EFLU for the phd seats and when my dad said i must not have gotten it because of reservations, i just said, well there were two seats total because of major fund cuts in education. its not reservations thats the problem but the lack of resources as a whole. this is generally a REALLY good method because it highlights the unfairness of the nation state in one go as well. of course, some relatives are too far gone, but the least you can do (i have found) is criticise them openly so they don't feel comfortable saying that shit around you. i also really like sending counter articles on family groups. once my Maama had sent some nonsense about the farm laws, and instead of debating him i sent a wire article on how the farm laws weren't even just about the farmers. this is, unfortunately, the least rewarding method, but i fear it is also the most absolutely essential.

the method that is most difficult, which is changing how you think method: i have said it before, but of course i haven't unpeeled the layers of conditioning that are still part of me. i think things that generally help me in this is always following the trail of money and labour in the world around me, and seeing where it is rooted. you'd be surprised at how many things are just casteist practices disguised as other things if you just put your mind to it a little.

i think the most difficult thing in all of this has been learning that despite all this, i will still, 100% make mistakes. the most important thing for me is to always do my best to fix them, and to make sure no one gets hurt because of my actions, or exploited. the upshot of this is that i have simply lost the uttar-pradesh-given ability to bargain with anyone. no, really. i can't even do it with autowallahs anymore. and janpath?? forget it. if the man says the pants are for 600 i will simply pay him that if i can afford it or walk away. i was literally in sarojini once and the shopkeeper quoted 400 for like, a cute little shrug or something, and i just walked away and he called me back like ma'am???? aren't you supposed to bargain??? then when i didn't he reduced it himself to 300. then when i was like okay, and started to pay him, he was like omg you are so bhola...... give 200 for it jfc. of course he also flirted with me while doing that, which is the sarojini-given right of all shopkeepers. but you see??? i can't bargain anymore. i just can't do it, if someone says this is the price of my labour i either decide i can afford it or i move on.

what was i saying?? yeah i still make mistakes, all the time. i just try to correct them as best as possible.

EDIT: i forgot, but one thing that i have found works for me is to really amplify reading material and voices that are not mine. like, you know, to always recommend work by dalit and bahujan writers, to always read more of it as well?? that stuff

[metamatar]

What can diaspora do to be anti caste in praxis not just in thought?

I'm not diaspora, but assuming you're diaspora embedded in a south asian community of some sort so you would join local anti caste work. Equality Labs does a lot in the US, especially the groundwork on getting caste into non discrimination policy. If theres isn’t anything on that, you'd join the standard diaspora cultural groups and push on anti caste action lines, do some cultural things about changing the upper caste focus: organise a PA Ranjith movie screening, do an Ambedkar reading circle. There's a lot of study circles online you could crib syllabi from. The other stuff about engagement in the public culture, interrogating caste practices and assumptions would be the same as someone living in India.

[purple-worm]

Some excerpts from Adv. Vrinda Grover's statement at the Supreme Court of India, as a part of the 15 petitions that were heard for the marriage equality bill. She presented arguments for the concept of a chosen family which was a more progressive stance on how families/unions could be defined by the constitution and it goes beyond just same-sex marriage. It could cover polyamory and recognition of queerplatonic intimacies between 2 or more individuals, and much more:

“During COVID, a study that was done on trans persons found that when trans persons due to lockdown and the nature of the disease, had to return to their natal families and their homes. Over there they faced violence. They faced conversion therapy which is prohibited. And that was actually an illustration of what would happen if other social formations of care and support did not exist. This is what has been described as an atypical family. This form of chosen family is recognized in our law; for instance, adoption.

Adoption is a form of chosen family. Today we recognize families and we conceptualize family as by blood, marriage or adoption."

"There is increasing legislative and judicial recognition of a person who may not necessarily be conjoined through marriage or conjugal intimacies. In relation to the advanced directive, every person who is not a minor shall have a right to make an advanced directive in writing specifying any of the following individual or individuals in order of precedents he wants to appoint as his nominated representatives.

"..Ensure that laws and policies recognize the diversity of family forms, including those not defined by descent or marriage and take all necessary legislative, administrative and other measures to ensure that no family may be subjected to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity of any of its members, including with regard to family related social welfare and other public benefits, etc. "

"I would say that what we are canvassing before this court is a different imagination. A new imagination of marriage and relationships and of family. An imagination which actually places at the foundation, love, care, and respect which may or may not come from the natal family because of my sexual orientation and gender identity.”

"There can be a feminist jurisprudence and feminist critique of family and that family can perpetuate caste purity and patriarchal control; so there may be persons who are of different sexual orientations and gender identities, which because of the hostility of natal families actually form intimacies that are non-marital, non-procreative, which are intimacies that are the only social conclave and support they can find."

Her statements were pleasantly surprising. Most of the earlier petitions chose to only focus on gay marriage and trans people having the right to marry, and I didn't expect any of the (star)lawyers/petitioners to go beyond that. But this. This is a sign of liberation. It reminds me a lot of the family code that granted marriage equality in Cuba. I love that we have some very progressive minds fighting this case.

[indipopcorn]

Girls are saved, Girls are educated but where's her dignity!

"Save Girl, Educate Girl" campaign, "Daughter is our proud" slogan, Women's day celebration - But nothing will be changed if girls life is only for the marriage. One in five underage girls and one in six boys are still getting married before the age of 18 (Now the legal age is 21), according to a Lancet Global Health study, despite the fact that the frequency of child marriage in India decreased from 49.4% in 1993 to 22.3% in 2021. More than 13.4 million women between the ages of 20 and 24 were reportedly pushed into marriage as children by 2021, according to research estimates. Lead author Jewel Gausman, a research associate at Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, stated in the school's news release that "child marriage is a human rights violation." A number of negative health outcomes are both a cause and an effect of social and economic vulnerability. We saw a state or union territory's stall in achieving zero child marriage, which is cause for grave concern and a demand for India to rekindle progress. West Bengal recorded the greatest increase in child weddings in the nation, with over 500,000 girls getting married at an early age, compared to Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state, which showed the largest decline in child marriages between 1993 and 2021. In contrast, Manipur, Goa, and Gujarat were unable to stop the rise in underage marriages (among boys) between 2006 and 2021. "The historical implementation of programs to address child marriage has varied across and within states, given that state governments tend to enact social sector policy in India," the researchers stated. In the last eight years, six Indian states reported a higher rate of child marriage in girls than the other 22 states, despite strict laws against this practice. "States that presently have a high burden and prevalence of child marriage, such Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and Rajasthan, should receive special attention. They said, "Child marriages have long-term effects on fertility, health, and mortality patterns that negatively impact the population's well-being and the economy." While some research indicates that minimum marriage age laws have a positive impact on lowering the incidence of child marriage in nations that have enacted them, others contend that these laws are difficult to enforce, particularly in remote and difficult-to-reach areas or in situations where other authorities, such as religious institutions, can perform marriages without government oversight, ultimately having little effect. Furthermore, laws prohibiting child marriage might not be properly enforced, which would lessen their impact, they continued.

[mightyflamethrower]

“Net Zero” is the hot thing among Climate Change zealots and has been for quite a while.

The idea is simple: if excessive emissions of CO2 are changing the atmosphere sufficiently to cause undesirable changes in the climate, then we have to quit emitting excessive levels of CO2. The “net” part of Net Zero is finding a way to remove CO2 from the atmosphere in the same quantity with which we increase it through the use of machines.

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Simple enough. It’s a bad policy, but the reasoning is simple enough to understand.

More than 140 countries, including the biggest polluters – China, the United States, India and the European Union – have set a net-zero target, covering about 88% of global emissions. More than 9,000 companies, over 1000 cities, more than 1000 educational institutions, and over 600 financial institutions have joined the Race to Zero, pledging to take rigorous, immediate action to halve global emissions by 2030.

This policy goal is truly insane, and everybody promoting it is as well. And, as the Telegraph reports, they are incredibly careless as well, playing with human lives and prosperity without thinking anything they do through to their logical conclusions. Their obsession with Net Zero overrides the most basic level of prudence one would expect from world leaders.

Two of the primary strategies for achieving Net Zero are, as you know, electrifying everything while simultaneously abandoning the use of fossil fuels to produce electricity. And, since nuclear power is controversial, time-consuming to construct, and requires a substantial up-front investment, countries are placing almost all their eggs in the “renewable” generation basket.

If renewables were reliable and affordable, it would be a great idea. Who wouldn’t prefer a cheap method for reliably generating a lot of electricity without depleting resources we could use for other things, or stretch out for a longer period? If it is all upside and no downside, why not?

Yeah, well, but…None of that is true, so the advocates get sloppy, deceptive, and push ridiculous propaganda out to obscure the basic facts.

Britain’s climate watchdog has privately admitted that a number of its key net zero recommendations may have relied on insufficient data, it has been claimed. Sir Chris Llewellyn Smith, who led a recent Royal Society study on future energy supply, said that the Climate Change Committee only “looked at a single year” of data showing the number of windy days in a year when it made pronouncements on the extent to which the UK could rely on wind and solar farms to meet net zero. “They have conceded privately that that was a mistake,” Sir Chris said in a presentation seen by this newspaper. In contrast, the Royal Society review examined 37 years worth of weather data. Last week Sir Chris, an emeritus professor and former director of energy research at Oxford University, said that the remarks to which he was referring were made by Chris Stark, the Climate Change Committee’s chief executive. He said: “Might be best to say that Chris Stark conceded that my comment that the CCC relied on modelling that only uses a single year of weather data … is ‘an entirely valid criticism’.” The CCC said that Sir Chris’s comments, in a presentation given in a personal capacity in October, following the publication of his review, related solely to a particular report it published last year on how to deliver “a reliable decarbonised power system”.

Here’s a simple question for you: would you completely upend a system that was working and that undergirded your civilization based on such a limited amount of data?

If the answer is “Yes,” step aside and let the adults make policy because you are a buffoon.  Unsurprisingly reality has not matched the fantasy of the Nut Zeros.

But, in response to further questions from this newspaper, the body admitted that its original recommendations in 2019 about the feasibility of meeting the 2050 net zero target, were also based on just one year’s worth of weather data. The recommendations were heavily relied on by ministers when Theresa May enshrined the 2050 target into law. A CCC spokesman said: “We stand by the analysis.” In October 2021 The Sunday Telegraph revealed that assumptions underpinning the committee’s 2019 advice to ministers included a projection that in 2050 there would be just seven days on which wind turbines would produce less than 10 per cent of their potential electricity output. That compared to 30 such days in 2020, 33 in 2019 and 56 in 2018, according to analysis by Net Zero Watch, a campaign group.

It is not accidental or, bad enough, negligence that led to this rather error-prone way of estimating energy needs. Instead this is the sort of strategy used all the time in getting government to do remarkably stupid things: mislead about what the actual costs and benefits of achieving a goal would be.

In my earlier life as an activist, I saw this strategy used all the time: project an unrealistically low cost, claim unreasonably high benefits, and use the sunk cost fallacy to keep the money flowing. Projects in government can escalate in cost by as much as a factor of 20 or more and produce few actual benefits, but once the first dollars flow in the project has a life of its own.

Think high-speed rail in California. Costs have escalated out of control; hardly anything has been built; and a project that was supposed to be already running will likely never get finished. But the gravy train for the people getting the money continues for years or decades. The project got off the ground in…1996 and has consumed untold billions of dollars without much of anything having been built. The project got the green light in 2008, and costs have ballooned with little progress having been made.

The costs for the California high-speed rail project, which voters approved $10 billion in 2008, have risen sharply and the authority has not identified key funding needed for the project that has faced numerous delays. The full San Francisco to Los Angeles project was initially estimated to cost around $40 billion but has now jumped to between $88 billion and $128 billion. The rail authority estimated costs for an initial 171-mile segment connecting Merced to Bakersfield rose from $25.7 billion to at least $32 billion and is hoping initial service will begin in 2030.

Just to let you know, the Merced to Bakersfield portion is all in central California, where few people actually live. In other words, there will be a segment of high speed rail from nowhere to nowhere. Not to offend the good folks of Merced and Bakersfield, but nobody would have approved a $32 billion train from one to the other. It would have been the subject of very unkind jokes.

Now, it is reality, or rather, it might be late in this decade. That is how government scams work.

Nut Zero is using that model. Overpromise, underdeliver, skim a ton of money off the taxpayers and create a disaster.

Nobody involved with Net Zero has your interests in mind, and only the childish believe it is possible or desirable in the foreseeable future. Trillions will be made by scammers, bureaucrats and the transnational elite will gain more control over you, and the average person will be immiserated.

That is the reality of Nut Zero. It is a scam and a power grab. Nothing more. Trust nothing its advocates say.

[indian-school-of-public-policy]

ISPP Cohort at 9th Public Annual Forum of India

ISPP encourages learning beyond the classroom by providing its scholars with a range of opportunities to learn from the real world. One such opportunity was when the ISPP cohort attended the 9th Public Annual Forum of India (PAFI). The informative sessions during PAFI’s annual forum were a valuable experience for the scholars at ISPP.

Read more - https://www.ispp.org.in/blog-post/going-beyond-the-classroom-networking-crucial-for-leadership/

[thatsonemorbidcorvid]

“Researchers examined data on childhood poverty in India, Ethiopia, Peru and Vietnam, which included over 12,000 children.

Following the lives of the children from the age of eight until 22, the team analysed employment in any paid work and sector, type of employment and earnings. 

The study found that the amount and nature of housework influenced girls’ participation at school, reduced their time to study and therefore worsened their future employment opportunities. 

At age 22, women were more likely to be unemployed than men (70.6 per cent of women compared to 85.7 per cent of men) and had lower wages, as women earned US$1.46 an hour compared to men who earned US$1.77 an hour.”

Young women and girls taking part in unpaid housework contributes to the gender pay gap, according to a new study.

Research from the Universities of East Anglia (UEA), Birmingham and Brunel has shown that women’s employment participation in later life is impacted by the amount of chores they take on during childhood.

According to UNICEF, young women and girls taking part in unpaid housework contributes to the gender pay gap, according to a new study. Girls spend 40 per cent more time on housework than boys, and unequal shares contribute and are linked to wider inequalities such as lack of access to water, which can lengthen cleaning times.

Researchers examined data on childhood poverty in India, Ethiopia, Peru and Vietnam, which included over 12,000 children.

Following the lives of the children from the age of eight until 22, the team analysed employment in any paid work and sector, type of employment and earnings. 

The study found that the amount and nature of housework influenced girls’ participation at school, reduced their time to study and therefore worsened their future employment opportunities. 

At age 22, women were more likely to be unemployed than men (70.6 per cent of women compared to 85.7 per cent of men) and had lower wages, as women earned US$1.46 an hour compared to men who earned US$1.77 an hour.

Dr Vasilakos, Associate Professor of Sustainable Business Economics and Public Policy at UEA, said: “Unequal participation in household work starts at a young age. Widening differences over time suggest gendered trajectories.”

Professor Fiona Carmichael, of the Birmingham Business School, said: “Longer hours of unpaid household work that reduces girls’ time for study may therefore limit their future lives by constraining employment opportunities.

“This confirms that the care burden to women of their greater share of household work starts back in childhood.”

Shireen Kanji, Professor of Human Resource Management at Brunel University London, said: “It seems that in comparison to men, women’s employment is likely to be driven to a greater extent by lack of choice or by need, and is characterised by fewer opportunities for well-paid, higher-quality employment.” 

However, the study also found that girls whose parents had higher aspirations for them at age 12 had a better chance of being employed in a high-paying role at age 22.

[naturalrights-retard]

While one could choose many appropriate representatives of the quotidian inanity of U.S. foreign policy—the deleterious consequences of which somehow never do anything to dent the authors’ respective career prospects—one could find many equal to but none better than former U.S. Ambassador to Russia, statist intellectual, and imperialist meddler, Michael McFaul.

As to be expected, he has the usual, impeccable hawkish credentials, his time and publications paid for by, among others, the Hoover Institute, Brookings Institute, and Center for Strategic and International Studies (brought to you courtesy of such disinterested, public-spirited nonprofits as Lockheed Martin, Pratt & Whitney, Raytheon, and Northrop Grumman, as well as equally disinterested foreign governments through various subsidiary donors).

Most recently, in response to the widespread reports that sanctions on Russia have failed, something so obvious even the U.S. corporate media can no longer fail to report it, McFaul had this to say:

Indeed.

The only obvious response to a policy that has never worked, having failed to bend such mighty geopolitical titans as Cuba, North Korea, Venezuela, and Sadaam Hussein’s Iraq to heel, is to continue said policy, targeting a power orders of magnitude more powerful, resilient, and important to the world economy than any of the above ever were or could ever be.

Hardly airtight logic.

Such realities need not and do not deter McFaul and his like, however—simply make the Indians stop buying Russian oil! Make the Germans stop selling industrial wares to Kyrgyzstan! In the great Wilsonian tradition, make the world safe for democracy by denying the agency of anyone and everyone who disagrees with Washington’s dictats!

Realistically, India will keep chugging down Russian oil; and Washington, because it wants New Delhi’s help countering the fake China threat, can do nothing but finger wag—and that it will probably do very quietly.

German companies evading sanctions is something Washington might be able to do something about, but it will come at a high cost. Berlin isn’t bending over backwards on the issue for a reason; industrial products are its bread and butter, and its economy hasn’t exactly been booming. Few will be quick to thank Washington for efforts to further cripple Europe’s economic engine.

[probablyasocialecologist]

Public provisioning systems have proved to be a powerful tool for poverty alleviation in many contexts. One 1986 study of health and education indicators found that at any given level of economic development, socialist countries performed better than capitalist states at securing strong welfare outcomes for their populations. These findings received further support from a 1993 study in the International Journal of Health Services, which found that high levels of democracy and strong leftwing policies were associated with improved health indicators. The public health researcher Vicente Navarro reached similar conclusions in his region-by-region survey of health outcomes in capitalist and socialist states. In Latin America, Cuba performed better than most other states; in Asia, China and the Soviet Union had stronger welfare outcomes than capitalist economies like India or Turkey; and in the high-income countries of Europe and North America, the social democracies with generous welfare states, including Sweden, Norway and Denmark, outperformed neoliberal states like the US. As the Nobel-winning economist Amartya Sen remarked in 1981, ‘One thought that is bound to occur is that communism is good for poverty removal.’

16 million and counting: the collateral damage of capital

[manasastuff-blog]

ELIGIBILITY FOR NDA CRASH COURSE

Introduction

What is UPSC NDA?

The UPSC NDA (Union Public Service Commission National Defence Academy) is a prestigious examination conducted by the UPSC to select candidates for admission into the Indian Army, Navy, and Air. It aims to recruit young individuals who possess the necessary qualities and potential to serve in the defense forces and contribute to the security and development of the nation.

Importance of UPSC NDA Eligibility

The eligibility criteria for UPSC NDA plays a vital role in ensuring that only the most deserving candidates are selected for training and service in the defense forces. These eligibility requirements help in maintaining the efficiency, discipline, and effectiveness of the armed forces. It ensures that individuals who have the necessary qualifications, physical attributes, and character are given the opportunity to serve their country.

Eligibility Criteria for UPSC NDA

Nationality Requirements

Citizenship Criteria

To be eligible for UPSC NDA, the candidate must be an Indian citizen. This means that the individual should either be:

A citizen of India by birth, or

A person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka,Individuals from East African countries such as Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, and Ethiopia, or Vietnam, have expressed their desire to relocate to India on a permanent basis.

Foreign Nationals' Eligibility

Foreign nationals are not eligible to apply for UPSC NDA. However, certain exceptions exist for individuals of specific nationalities. Bhutanese and Nepalese candidates, as well as Tibetan refugees and Indian origin migrants from other countries, may be considered eligible under certain conditions. These conditions are subject to specific government policies and agreements.

Age Limit and Relaxation

The age limit for candidates applying for UPSC NDA is also an important criterion. The candidate must be between 16.5 and 19.5 years of age. The upper age limit may be relaxed for specific categories such as Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC), and other deserving candidates as per government regulations.

Educational Qualifications

Academic Requirements

Candidates must have completed their 10+2 education or equivalent from a recognized board or institution to be eligible for UPSC NDA. The candidate should have passed the qualifying examination with the required academic standards as specified by the UPSC.

Specific Subjects and Marks Criteria

The candidate must have studied certain subjects in their 10+2 education to qualify for UPSC NDA. These subjects include Mathematics and Physics for the Air Force and Navy wings, while Mathematics is not mandatory for candidates applying to the Army wing. Additionally, the candidate must secure the minimum marks required in these subjects as specified by the UPSC.

Certain exemptions exist for candidates applying for the Navy and Air Force wings who do not meet the specific subject criteria. However, such candidates will be required to undergo additional training to bridge the knowledge gap.

Eligibility for Appearing in Final Exam

To be eligible to appear for the UPSC NDA entrance examination, the candidate must fulfill certain conditions. These conditions include restrictions on the number of attempts, the age limit, and the educational qualifications. Only candidates who meet the specified criteria will be allowed to appear for the entrance examination.

Physical Standards

Height, Weight, and Chest Measurements

Candidates must meet certain physical standards to be eligible for UPSC NDA. These standards include height, weight, and chest measurements as per the prescribed requirements. The UPSC specifies the minimum and maximum limits for each parameter, and candidates failing to meet these requirements may be disqualified.

Certain relaxations in physical standards may be provided for candidates from specific regions or categories as determined by the government.

Visual and Hearing Standards

Good vision and hearing are essential for individuals serving in the defense forces. Therefore, candidates are required to meet specific visual and hearing standards to be eligible for UPSC NDA. The UPSC outlines guidelines for vision requirements, including specific visual acuity and color perception standards. Similarly, candidates must meet the specified hearing criteria and should not have any hearing disabilities or impairments.

Physical Fitness and Medical Examination

Candidates applying for UPSC NDA also need to demonstrate a certain level of physical fitness. The UPSC prescribes fitness benchmarks and conducts physical tests to assess the candidates' physical capabilities. Additionally, candidates are subjected to a thorough medical examination to ensure that they are medically fit and free from any disqualifying illnesses or conditions.

Marital Status and Other Criteria

Marital Status Requirements

To be eligible for UPSC NDA, candidates must be unmarried. This is a prerequisite for admission into the National Defence Academy. Additionally, candidates are subject to restrictions on marriage during the training or service period as per the regulations of the defense forces.

Restrictions on Employment or Training During the Selection Process

Candidates applying for UPSC NDA are required to fulfill certain employment and training restrictions. These restrictions may include limitations on employment or pursuing other educational courses during the selection process. The aim is to ensure that candidates are fully committed to the training and service requirements of the defense forces.

[zvaigzdelasas]

In April 1950, Owen Lattimore, one of America’s most esteemed Sinologists, received a request for a copy of his brand new book, Pivot of Asia: Sinkiang and the Inner Asian Frontiers of China and Russia.

Such requests for Pivot of Asia—an insightful work on the history, culture, and economy of Xinjiang (Sinkiang), a province in Northwest China sharing a long land border with the Soviet Union—were probably not rare, but this one was different.

Postmarked from New Delhi, the letter was written by a group of three political refugees from Xinjiang. The authors of the letter asked not just for a copy of the book; more importantly, they wanted Lattimore and his “friends” in the American government to support Xinjiang in the wake of the Chinese revolution.

The names of the letter’s three signatories—Muhammad Amin Bughra, Isa Yusuf Alptekin, and Colonel Adam Sabri—would have been immediately familiar to Lattimore, an expert on China’s ethnic borderlands. Describing themselves as “Turkestanis,” the trio of Uyghur men had long served the Chinese Nationalist Government in Xinjiang.

When the Chinese Nationalist Army in Xinjiang capitulated in September 1949, the three men faced an uncertain future. Accompanied by some 600 other Uyghur politicians and family members, they fled the provincial capital, Urumqi, just days before troops of the Chinese Communist Party arrived.

Writing from India, Bughra, Alptekin, and Sabri styled themselves rather pitifully, telling Lattimore they were “bereft of all valuables” and “penniless.” Despite their material condition, the men remained committed to telling the world of Xinjiang’s plight under the repressive regime of the Chinese and Soviet communists. [...]

Lattimore, Bughra, Alptekin, and Sabri wanted material and financial support. Addressing the China-expert as an “Adviser to the State Department,” they asked for “[help] from you or your friends,” noting that in the midst of the difficult journey to India, they and their 600 followers had lost all worldly possessions. If they were to survive in India—let alone agitate for the independence of Xinjiang—the three men desperately needed some assistance.

Upon reading the letter, Lattimore did seek out money for Xinjiang…but not in the way Bughra, Alptekin, and Sabri had hoped. The request prompted Lattimore to try to recruit a language and area studies expert for Johns Hopkins or another university in the United States. He sent off letters to the Foreign Service Institute, the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), and the University of Pennsylvania, all asking for funds to recruit a Xinjiang specialist. [...]

At the time of Pivot’s publication and Lattimore’s fundraising effort, the United States Consulate in Urumqi had closed, a CIA operative named Douglas Mackiernan had been killed while evacuating from Chinese Central Asia, and the People’s Republic of China and the Soviet Union had inked a series of agreements to jointly develop Xinjiang.

All of this meant that the United States was denied access to Xinjiang, an important listening post in the Global Cold War. Lattimore probably feared that a knowledge gap about this “pivotal” region in Central Asian and Sino-Soviet affairs would develop among policymakers and policy analysts in Washington. So to prepare for after the Chinese revolution, Lattimore wanted the United States to have academics and educators familiar with the languages and locales of Xinjiang.