India Last Week #1
A round-up of research & reportage on India across climate, energy, foreign policy, politics & more over the last week [April 17-24, 2024]:
Climate, Energy & Environment –
“Post-UT [Union Territory], Ladakhis are demanding safeguards for their homeland, keeping in mind its fragile ecosystem. People have also become more conscious about protecting their environment as they feel that UT status means Ladakh will be governed directly from New Delhi.” Read more: Rinchen Chumikchan, Down to Earth
“Using drones for fertiliser spraying, is now a no-brainer agritech solution for many Indian farmers. In recent years, state governments, startups and educational institutions across the country have started offering rental schemes and training programmes for farmers to use agriculture drones for pesticide spraying. The central government has also announced subsidies for farmers who wish to purchase agri drones.” Read more: Priyanka Shankar, Mongabay
“While India’s electric vehicle (EV) policy is widely expected to attract global players into this sector, including Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc., Chinese companies may not be able to enjoy the concessions under the policy. India’s policy offers a concessional rate of duty of 15 percent, subject to certain riders like a minimum investment of Rs 4,150 crore. But Chinese and China-linked companies are likely to be out of the picture, given that New Delhi is still wary of foreign direct investments (FDIs) linked to Beijing, due to national security concerns, a senior government official told Moneycontrol.” Read more: Adrija Chatterjee, Moneycontrol
“India released draft guidelines for rooftop solar subsidies to be implemented in 2027. These guidelines are for the installation of rooftop solar (RTS) plants in 10 million households with subsidy support. The PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana scheme aims to provide free or low-cost electricity with up to 300 units of electricity per month by installing rooftop solar.” Read more: Carbon Copy
“In the face of a climate shock, our research finds that a high percentage of educated rural workforce takes up casual labour under duress, earning significantly less wages than they would in regular wage employment. Sale of livestock at distress prices also indicates the desperation of the households to stay afloat. While the empirical evidence of vulnerability presented in this article are preliminary observations and more rigorous analysis is warranted, this highlights the need for making not just agriculture, but the rural economy as a whole, resilient to climate variability.” Read more: Sravanthi Choragudi and Anirban Kundu, Ideas for India
Foreign Policy & Security –
“In these last ten years of Modi rule, while Nepal-India ties have not seen a doctrinal shift, the two countries have engaged widely on issues of regional connectivity, something Kathmandu has long desired. Southasian economic integration is not an idea unique to the last decade, or to Modi’s India. The difference now is that an increasingly confident New Delhi is willing to pursue the benefits of such integration with greater gusto.” Read more: Amish Raj Mulmi, Himal Southasian
“The $375 million deal, signed in January 2022, includes thte supply of three batteries of the missiles, launchers, and related equipment. This marks a significant milestone as it is the first export of the BrahMos missile by India.” Read more: The Economic Times
“India’s test of MIRV technology on the Agni-V missile shows that it is making qualitative technological advances in its ability to target China. New Delhi’s initial set of nuclear-capable ballistic missiles and other delivery systems were aimed at Pakistan. Over the last decade, however, India’s advances in nuclear and conventional military capabilities have aimed to tackle the threat from China.” Read more: Debak Das, Bulletin of the Atomic Sciences
“India will gradually increase in power, becoming the world’s 3rd largest economy during the next ten to twenty years. Yet it will also continue to be marked by the same paradox that characterises China today — having a large economic mass that does not translate into high levels of distributed prosperity. India’s journey towards true great power capabilities is thus likely to be long and arduous.” Read more: Ashley Tellis, East Asia Forum
People & Politics –
“The biggest challenge the BJP faces this election is not the Opposition, but the listlessness of its own support base. The mobilisation energy of the party comes from the fact that for much of the party base, the BJP is not just a political instrument: It is an identity. It is this fervour of identification that has given the BJP the edge in the last few years. But the sense of identity has been diluted for a number of reasons.” Read more: Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Indian Express
“In India, we have had reservations for women as heads of local government since the Panchayati Raj Amendments that were legislated in 1992, and a longer history of reservations for Scheduled Castes and Tribes. We've got this great natural experiment that allows us to causally identify the impact of descriptive representation.” Read more: Rachel Brule & Rohan Venkat, India in Transition
“In India, some norms have been sticky, for example, persistently high gap between men and women in time spent on domestic chores, where women spend as much as 10X more time on domestic chores, among the highest ratios globally. Labour force participation rates remain a matter of concern. But how true is it that overall gender norms in India have not changed over the last 25 years? There are big picture positive changes that are pretty remarkable: an increase in female education, decline in gender gaps in education, a decline in total fertility rate to replacement level and an impressive decline in maternal mortality rates.” Read more: Ashwini Deshpande, Scroll
Tech –
“Zoho, a lesser-known rival of Google and Microsoft in the enterprise software space, has been stepping up in Africa as an affordable alternative to the global giants. The company has hired local staff, introduced payment options in local currencies, and even sponsored a cricket tournament to dig its heels into the market. But even as it has seen some early success, African tech experts say Zoho needs to strengthen its branding and engage with the local tech community to give serious competition to its larger rivals in the future.” Read more: Damilare Dosunmu & Ananya Bhattacharya, Rest of World
“The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has invited proposals to conduct a market study on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and competition in India. Through the study, the CCI aims to understand the emerging concerns around competition in the development and deployment of AI systems and its impact on innovation in key sectors… Why is CCI conducting the study? In a Request for Proposal (RFP) document, the CCI stated that the study is being conducted to develop an understanding of the "evolving landscape of AI and application of AI in markets in India”.” Read more: Sarasvati NT, Medianama
“Nearly 35 years after a mysterious fire destroyed its facilities at the 51-acre campus at Mohali in Punjab, Semi-Conductor Laboratory (SCL) is fighting back to extinguish old memories and earn its place in the sun… When the US-based Micron rolls out the first chip from its assembly, test, marking, and packaging (ATMP) facility at Sanand, Gujarat, part of the credit will go to SCL, which has not only provided the first-level training to the professionals working on Micron’s project, but is busy doing the same for other such projects in the pipeline.” Read more: Jatin Grover, Financial Express