Search

Begin New Search Political Geography India

1701. Power Sector Reforms in India: Issues Relating to Agriculture

Author:
Rafiq Dossani
Publication Date:
03-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center
Abstract:
Firstly, the cost-to-serve for each category of consumer varies depending on several factors. There are technical reasons such as power factor, voltage of supply and so on which are set out in the Electricity Supply Act, 1948. There are also commercial reasons. In some situations, the total quantity of power available could not be sold, unless some categories of consumers we are charged a lower tariff. There are also considerations of equity or the need to meet the merit wants of the poorer population, which prompted differential pricing.
Topic:
Agriculture, Economics, and Energy Policy
Political Geography:
South Asia and India

1702. Financial Sector Reform in India: Is There a Grand Design?

Author:
Rajrishi Singhal
Publication Date:
07-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for the Advanced Study of India
Abstract:
The Planning Commission of India, in its Approach Paper for the Tenth Five-Year Plan (2002- 07), set its sights on two lofty targets: doubling per capita income over the next 10 years—compared to similar goals over 20 years as was previously the norm—and reducing the incidence of poverty by five percentage points.
Topic:
Development, Economics, and Government
Political Geography:
South Asia and India

1703. From Midnight to the Millennium and Beyond: democracy and identity in today's India

Author:
Shashi Tharoor
Publication Date:
07-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for the Advanced Study of India
Abstract:
Good afternoon and welcome. I hasten to reassure that I am not Francine Frankel; my name is Peter Geithner, I am a member of the International Advisory Board of CASI. Because Francine is in India as we speak, I have the privilege of introducing our speaker this afternoon. As those of you who have had a chance to read the announcement will, I am sure, agree, to have this afternoon Dr. Shashi Tharoor. He is a most unusual fellow, I think we can all agree. Unusual in the sense that he has managed to pursue not only one, but two careers, and to do so with extraordinary success. As an international civil servant, and now, Undersecretary General of the United Nations for Communications and Public Information, and as one of India's most respected authors. An award‐winning author, I might add, for both his fiction and his non‐fiction writing. On the fiftieth anniversary of India's independence, Dr. Tharoor wrote of India's—and I quote—“extraordinary mixture of ethnic groups, profusion of incomprehensible languages, variations of topography and climate, diversity of religions and cultural practices, and range and levels of economic development.” He also went on to remind us that India's pluralism—and again I quote—“emerges from its geography, is reflected in its history, and is confirmed by its ethnography.” I suspect we will hear more along these lines this afternoon, as Dr. Tharoor speaks to us about, “From Midnight to the Millennium and Beyond: Democracy and Identity in Today's India.” Shashi—Dr. Tharoor.
Topic:
Democratization, Government, Nationalism, and United Nations
Political Geography:
India and Southeast Asia

1704. India's National Security Challenges

Author:
V.P. Maki
Publication Date:
07-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for the Advanced Study of India
Abstract:
Welcome everyone to this special lecture. It is for me a particular pleasure, as Director of the Center for the Advanced Study of India, to introduce our distinguished speaker this afternoon: General Ved Malik. It is difficult to introduce General Malik because his achievements are so many-and they all speak for themselves - so please forgive me if I go over material that you already know. One cannot but help mention that he has served as India's Chief of Army Staff during 1997 to 2000 and as Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee of the Indian Armed Forces during 1999-2000—and that he has received India's highest national award for distinguished military service.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, National Security, and Politics
Political Geography:
India and Southeast Asia

1705. Thirteen Years of Power Sector Reform in India: Are We Still Groping in the Dark?

Author:
Kandula Subramaniam
Publication Date:
05-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for the Advanced Study of India
Abstract:
In 1991, before the New Power Policy was announced opening the Indian power supply industry to private investment, the country was experiencing power shortages. Sanghvi (1991) estimated that in countries like India, electricity shortages led to a loss of 1.5 to 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Ten years later, India still experiences shortages of power in the form of load-shedding. Even grid breakdowns have become a regular feature. In 2001 alone, there were two major grid collapses, bringing several Indian states to a grinding halt for more than one day.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
South Asia and India

1706. Networking Symposium on Security Sector Governance in Asia

Author:
Riefqi Muna and Shiam Vidurupola
Publication Date:
09-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Global Facilitation Network for Security Sector Reform
Abstract:
The Global Facilitation Network (GFN) for Security Sector Reform (SSR) facilitated a symposium in Bangkok from 21-22 September 2004. The purpose of the symposium was to carry out an assessment of the potential of existing and future networks for the promotion and support of Security Sector Reform agendas in Asia. The symposium aimed to encourage a wider debate on SSR by exploring and promoting existing regional networks. Participants attended from a range of many South and South East Asian countries including Bangladesh, East Timor, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. International experts from Germany, the UK, Switzerland Ghana, and Nigeria also attended, in order to encourage a south-south dialogue and to share experiences from other continents. This diversity of knowledge resulted in enriched debate at a regional level. Experiences were shared and analysed by more than fifty participants from senior positions in academia, politics, military, police, civil society, donor organisations, and the media.
Topic:
Security, Regional Cooperation, and Governance
Political Geography:
Pakistan, South Asia, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Asia, Nepal, Ghana, and Southeast Asia

1707. An India-Pakistan Detente: What It Could Mean for Sustainable Development in South Asia and Beyond

Author:
Toufiq A. Siddiqi
Publication Date:
08-2004
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
East-West Center
Abstract:
India and Pakistan have had volatile relations ever since they became independent of Britain in 1947. Frequent hostility has stifled cooperation between the two countries and inhibited development in the region. Recently, however, tensions show signs of easing. In March 2004, India's then prime minister visited Pakistan to attend a South Asian regional summit. Flights, bus service, and cricket matches between the two countries have resumed; India's newly elected government continues to support the process. Peace could bring a wide range of benefits not only to India and Pakistan but to the wider region as well. For example, it could enable cooperation on importing energy via a natural-gas pipeline, which would support environmentally sound development. The improved road and rail system that would necessarily accompany a pipeline would also support the goal of building an Asian highway network and the resurgence of cross-border trade, another likely consequence of détente. These benefits could spread far beyond India and Pakistan into the wider west, central, and south Asian region.
Topic:
International Relations, Development, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Pakistan, South Asia, and India

1708. Pakistan's Nuclear Proliferation and U.S. Policy

Author:
Simon Henderson
Publication Date:
01-2004
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Abstract:
Recent media reports suggest that rogue Pakistani scientists have been peddling nuclear secrets across the Middle East for many years. The revelation offsets recent good news from the region -- Iran's acceptance of nuclear inspections and Libya's agreement to give up weapons of mass destruction. The spread of nuclear secrets in Pakistan is particularly worrisome for Washington; if Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf were killed or overthrown, the country's nuclear arsenal could be aimed at U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf region or at Pakistan's longstanding rival, India.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution
Political Geography:
Pakistan, United States, Washington, Middle East, India, and Arab Countries

1709. Decomposing Spatial Differences in Poverty in India

Author:
Shatakshee Dhongde
Publication Date:
08-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
Over the last decade, India has been one of the fastest growing economies, and has experienced considerable decline in overall income poverty. However, in a vast country like India, poverty levels vary significantly across the different states. In this paper, we analyze the differences between poverty at the state and national level, separately for the rural and urban sector, in the year 1999-2000. Instead of following the usual practice of decomposing the changes in poverty over time, we decompose the changes in poverty across regions. Such decomposition reveals that differences in state and national poverty levels were largely explained by differences in the state and national mean income levels. Differences in the state and national distributions of income were less important in explaining spatial differences in poverty. An important policy implication of our results is that states with extremely high levels of poverty would have reduced poverty significantly by raising their mean income levels to the national mean income, instead of changing their distribution of income to match the national income distribution.
Topic:
Demographics, Economics, and Poverty
Political Geography:
India and Asia

1710. Industrial Location and Spatial Inequality: Theory and Evidence from India

Author:
Somik V. Lall and Sanjoy Chakravorty
Publication Date:
08-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
We argue that spatial inequality of industry location is a primary cause of spatial income inequality in developing nations. We focus on understanding the process of spatial industrial variation—identifying the spatial factors that have cost implications for firms, and the factors that influence the location decisions of new industrial units. The analysis has two parts. First we examine the contribution of economic geography factors to the cost structure of firms in eight industry sectors and show that local industrial diversity is the one factor with significant and substantial cost reducing effects. We then show that new private sector industrial investments in India are biased toward existing industrial and coastal districts, whereas state industrial investments (in deep decline after structural reforms) are far less biased toward such districts. We conclude that structural reforms lead to increased spatial inequality in industrialization, and therefore, income.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Industrial Policy, and Political Economy
Political Geography:
South Asia and India