By Richard Rossow – The concept of devolving power to India’s states as “laboratories for reform” has re-emerged as a fashionable theory for speeding up economic development in India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi regularly touches on the twin theories of…
This week, Karnataka is considering lifting restrictions on women working overnight shifts in all sectors; sixteen states have signed on to the central government’s rescue scheme for state power distribution companies; Rajasthan approves a new policy to boost development in…
Winners of the first round of the Smart Cities competition were announced; Maharashtra gets rid of more regulations; Rajasthan sets a minimum wage for domestic workers; Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan join the center’s discom-revival scheme; and more. Center-State relations The…
In this episode we explore the story of the relationship between the United States and its key ally and partner in Southeast Asia – the Philippines. With a shifting geopolitical environment, the lull in U.S.-Philippines ties following the Cold War…
By Michael Sheldrick If nothing else, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s visit to the United States in mid-January — his first as Prime Minister — served to highlight a simple fact: Australia matters. In 2016 the world’s most powerful country is…
This week, Maharashtra passes new policies reducing inspections, easing land transfer, and allowing direct sales by farmers to retailers; the center extends the deadline for implementing the Food Security Act again; Telangana is getting a National Investment and Manufacturing Zone; Uttar Pradesh extends industrial…
This week: Andhra Pradesh liberalizes labor laws in the retail sector, and its Chief Minister attends Davos; Maharashtra is moving forward with an SEZ for financial services; Rajasthan budgets millions to improve small-city infrastructure; West Bengal announces a new entrepreneurship…
By Phuong Nguyen The landslide election in Taiwan of pro-independence opposition leader Tsai Ing-wen to be president has led to speculation of a possible recalibration in Chinese foreign policy, at least in the year ahead. Observers believe that stable cross-strait…
By Victor Andres “Dindo” Manhit & Angelica Mangahas On January 12, the Philippine Supreme Court ruled that the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) between the Philippines and the United States is an executive agreement that does not require Senate approval.…
This week, the center is collecting ideas from states to boost exports; Gujarat is subsidizing payroll for labor-intensive industries, and also announcing new natural gas subsidies while hiking taxes on petroleum products; Maharashtra will guarantee businesses a timely answer to…
