The IMF’s April 2025 Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa presents a clear warning: regional growth is slowing, debt pressures are mounting, and donor assistance is declining. Yet the report outlines critical opportunities particularly in domestic revenue mobilization, structural reform, and private sector activation that can shape a more resilient …
This paper looks at the role of governance and institutions in supporting growth and broadening inclusiveness with a special reference to developing Asia. While the intrinsic value of good governance and institutions as ends of development in their own right is now universally accepted and underlies the very notion of …
Losses by the long ruling Left Front in a series of local and national elections since 2008 cannot be explained without an understanding of the nature of
Participatory governance and planning along with capacity building initiatives would be keys for inclusive and sustainable development of the Northeast. According to a recent report prepared by Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PWC), a sound strategy to implement a people-centric policy is also required for the region. Commissioned by Indian Chamber of Commerce …
India is considered a developing country and has been striving hard to come in the category of developed countries. With the globalization of economy, breaking of economic barriers, opening of Indian markets for foreign investors, preponderance of consumer culture and growing inequalities, there is need to reassess the development process …
It is an accepted fact that the fast and skewed urbanization process that is presently taking place in the WHO South-East Asia (SEA) Region is becoming a powerful agent of change and is accompanied with economic opportunities, environmental threats and health challenges. The present paper examines primarily the process of …
In a comprehensive paper, covering all aspects of e-governance, especially the scope, advantages, risks and so on, the Author sounds a note of caution against the delays in implementing the relevant projects causing time and cost overruns. In his view, while there is a rosy outlook, complete coverage of the …
India is poised at a very critical point in its history. It can go either way: become a leader not only in a political-economic sense but even in a cultural sense; or plunge in an upheaval that is externally or internally engineered. Its democratic experiment to weld a nation out …
This paper returns to the particular issue of regulatory frameworks: the rules and systems put in place to encourage best practice and compliance with the official rules. It argues that in many countries the regulatory framework needs to be rethought, and rethought on the basis of today
Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) initiatives are more likely to be effective in reducing emissions if they build on, rather than conflict with, the interests of local communities and indigenous groups (referred to henceforth as
The Open Budget Survey 2010 reveals that 74 of the 94 countries assessed fail to meet basic standards of transparency and accountability with national budgets. This opens the door to abuse and inappropriate and inefficient use of public money. The good news is that all governments -- no matter their …
The high level committee on Urban Development Ministry on Tuesday approved two major projects worth Rs 35 crore under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). The two big budget projects
This essay integrates metaphysics, science, politics, political economy, and moral philosophy in order to explore the ways in which some Gandhian ideas, when given a genealogical reading in the dissenting thought of Early Modernity in Europe, might provide a deep basis for (a) diagnosing the religiosity of our own time, …
Why are politicians and bureaucrats in Jharkhand uninterested in spending central development funds even when the state is so backward? And why are they not apprehensive about what this would do to their electoral fortunes? The Madhu Koda case supplies the answers. The ruling elite relies on a share of …
This document presented in the one of the side event of COP15, Copenhagen, discusses the lack of access to clean and modern energy in India rural population despite government initiatives in promoting cleaner technologies. The authors explore CDM/POA potential to promote renewables for GHG mitigation while achieving desired energy transformation …
The right to environment is a recognised human right in Africa. However, despite the legal and institutional frameworks designed to respect, promote, protect and fulfil the right, its enjoyment is still a mirage to majority of African citizens as a result of environmental degradation. This article aims to proffer a …
The Union Government, especially the Ministry for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj deserve all credit for declaring 2009-2010 the year of the Gram Sabha
This overview discusses a series of themes critical to understanding the governance of clean development that cut across each of the case studies showcased in this special issue. Firstly, the question of who draws the boundaries around what is to be governed, what is not, and by whom, where each …
