Malnutrition: Is Public Nutrition the Best Approach?

In India, with the initiation of schemes like POSHAN 2.0, nutrition is gradually gaining importance as an important aspect of health. With an increase in our understanding of health and nutrition, we are now able to test and prescribe individualised nutritional recommendations. Now, instead of population level recommended dietary allowance (RDA), it is possible to get personalised nutrition guidance based on comorbidities, genetic makeup and family history. As we just observed POSHAN maah (month) in September, let us talk about malnutrition.

Wastewater surveillance programmes for India: A call for action

New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared a disaster emergency on September 9 2022, to ramp up efforts to vaccinate residents against polio after the virus was detected in wastewater samples in four counties. While wastewater surveillance is an effective tool for monitoring community health, there has been no concerted governmental effort in India to include it in the broader public health strategy.Such a programme could better predict the emergence of diseases, help prepare mitigation measures and improve public health outcomes

An ‘everything’ app is a nightmare for our freedoms

Monopoly, the board game, is often held up as a demonstration of capitalism, teaching us how business works. Actually, it does more than that. While it is true that a budding capitalist’s goal is to grab as large a market share as possible, the game shows that allowing a player to do so is bad for society as a whole. Now there is nothing wrong in a business person seeking a monopoly. It is for society—through its political institutions—to protect its broader interests and check monopolistic tendencies through public policy.

Indian Armed Forces can’t turn a blind eye to religious politics anymore

National security planners have an unenviable task as they deal with an imagined and unknown future visualised as threats and opportunities. The challenge is compounded by the shortage of resources and the unplumbed possibilities of progress in science and technology. External threats are often better known and acknowledged. Internal threats that have manifested as insurgencies are troublesome but are usually within the power of the State to keep under control. But what could be unacknowledged and neglected and is generally allowed to simmer for long till it explodes like a powder keg is communal disharmony. For India, it holds the hazards of a live fault line.

Securing India’s Cyberspace from Quantum Techniques

Last month, there were reports that the Indian Army is developing cryptographic techniques to make its networks resistant to attacks by systems with quantum capabilities. The Army has collaborated with industry and academia to build secure communications and cryptography applications. This step builds on last year’s initiative to establish a quantum computing laboratory at the military engineering institute in Mhow, Madhya Pradesh. With traditional encryption models at risk and increasing military applications of quantum technology, the deployment of “quantum-resistant” systems has become the need of the hour.

भारतीयों के विदेशों में बसने के फ़ायदे कम नहीं

राजस्थान पत्रिका, Sept 30, 2022. We need two look at two categories of Indians in this regard - one, emigrants that have already left and two, Indians who are yet to leave. For those ones that have left, it will be tough to surrender a foreign passport and return back to India. A probable solution would be to actively consider dual citizenship policy, allow ease of investment to NRI/PIO’s and maintain healthy relationships through Indian diplomacy. For the ones who have not yet taken up foreign citizenship, India needs to invest in building social harmony, abundant economic opportunities, and a steady improvement in the quality of life for people from diverse backgrounds. Our critical focus should be for the people from the second category. This includes medical students who are forced to leave due to the government restrictions leading to smaller intakes in medical courses, and high net worth individuals who choose to migrate because of poor business, tax, and policy environments. Unless we address these fundamental challenges, movies such as Swades might bring tears to our eyes, but will not stop in converting pardesi to swadeshi.

Who should control Assam Rifles—MoD or MHA? Resolving that will truly end Army’s role in Northeast

The oldest Insurgencies in India originated in the mid-1950s in the Northeastern states of Nagaland, Manipur, and Mizoram. It later spread to Assam, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, and Meghalaya. Among the central forces, the Army and the Assam Rifles have borne the burden of counterinsurgency that has varied in intensity and geographic spread over nearly seven decades. So, it is heartening to note that improvement in the political and operational environment due to the waning of insurgency in the Northeast has facilitated a noteworthy reduction in the counterinsurgency role of the Army. Its previous role is being carried out mostly by the Assam Rifles now, freeing the Army to concentrate on the growing threat from China.

Britain shouldn’t lose sleep over getting rid of monarchy

I am happy and content to be a citizen of an India where a Radhakrishnan, a Zail Singh, an Abdul Kalam and a Draupadi Murmu can rise to become the President of the Republic. Ceremonial and symbolic as the office may be in practice, it is the kind of symbolism that matters. But the recent passing of Queen Elizabeth II made me wonder what I would think of constitutional monarchy if I were British.

India’s Russia problem will grow: Locked out of semiconductor supply, Moscow will be hard-pressed to fulfil New Delhi’s military needs

Times of India, Sept 29, 2022. There are significant implications of high-tech sanctions on Russia's defence companies for India.

How the TTC Agreement with the EU can help India shape Global Tech Ecosystems

Earlier this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with the European Union President Ursula von der Leyen and announced the setting up of the India-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC). The joint statement released by the two leaders on the launch of the council described the TTC as a body that was responsible for the “strategic coordination mechanism [that] will allow both partners to tackle challenges at the nexus of trade, trusted technology and security, and thus deepen cooperation in these fields between the EU and India”. Since the official press release of the TTC, there have been no more follow-up announcements or movement on the front. This has raised questions about how the Council should function and its role in determining the technology trade agreements between the two entities. What would be the methods of cooperation and the focus areas for India and the EU? These still remain to be answered and delved into.

Modi-Xi ‘cold war’ at SCO proves member relationships strained. India must stand on its own

The cold of Ladakh apparently froze the erstwhile bonhomie between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping as they ignored one another even as they stood next to each other and posed for a group photograph during the meeting of the Heads of States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Samarkand. The mutual and intentional display of ignoring one another on a forum that is specifically meant to promote cooperative spirit in diverse fields is naturally not reflected in the Samarkand Declaration, which embodies common perceptions of international affairs and identifies vast areas of cooperation to strengthen security and development. By December, India will take over the presidency of the SCO and host the next meeting of the Heads of States in 2023. Xi has promised full support for India’s presidency.

India needs a Holistic and Effective ‘Techplomacy’ Strategy

Technological advancements in the 21st Century have heightened the role of technology in the diplomacy arena. Technically adept nation-states are developing their own strategies to integrate technology with their foreign policy and diplomatic initiatives. But how can technology be used as a credible diplomatic plank by the Indian State to further its national and geopolitical interests? The Indian state needs to address the ability to utilise technology as a credible foreign policy and diplomacy tool.

China lowered the gun for Modi-Xi Uzbekistan meet. India can’t take its eyes off the barrel yet

Breaking the military deadlock at Gogra-Hot Springs in Ladakh has been touted as paving the way for the Narendra Modi-Xi Jinping meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit scheduled in Uzbekistan on 15-16 September. The military commanders had probably arrived at a consensus when they met for the 16th round of negotiations on 17 July. But political approval by both sides seems to have taken nearly two months. The delay conceals more than it reveals about the contemporary dynamics of China-India relations and the role of the military confrontation on India’s northern border in the context of power shifts leading to geopolitical competition at the global level.

The misleading outrage over 18-hour work days

Congratulations on finishing college! I am writing to you because I want you to be successful. I care for the happiness it will bring you and your family. I also care because the trajectory of your career will determine India’s growth and development. The stakes are high. A couple of recent incidents prompted this letter. Earlier this month, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Bombay Shaving Company was forced to apologize for advising people in their early twenties to put in 18-hour work days for 4-5 years, and work hard. The social media backlash accusing him of promoting a toxic work culture was so strong that he quit that platform entirely.

How India Can Use Technology as a Strategic Tool to Advance Its Interests

In the current Information Age, technology has become a ubiquitous part of every country’s society. Citizens are empowered in a wide range of ways with improved access to technology, states’ economic sectors are transitioning into the digital space, and tech development has been outpacing regulations and governance regularly. This is the era where technology is becoming a strategic tool for the state to drive growth and protect its interests. India, as a fledgling and rising technological power, has the ability to leverage technology for the greater good. The Indian state should now start viewing technology and its adoption from a more strategic lens. But how can India use ‘technology’ to tackle existing problems as well as try to deploy it as a prospective solution in key areas of governance?

After INS Vikrant, India’s next steps should be new carrier, submarines

On 2 September 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi presided over the commissioning ceremony of India’s first indigenously built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant. Built by Cochin Shipyard Limited, the event flags a major milestone in India’s journey to the expansion of its maritime power. The achievement is laudable but must not be allowed to mask the point that maritime power is a generic term that encompasses naval, merchant marine capacity and infrastructure assets like ports and inland connectivity. The journey is not only endless but also extremely high in financial outlays. Yet, it is one that has the potential of being offset through economic benefits derived from maritime trade.

Execute Open-Access Mandate for Academia

The United States (US) announced recently that all taxpayer-supported research must be immediately made available to the public at no cost. This will become the norm by the end of 2025. This policy is likely to have worldwide ramifications including India. In the short term, India needs to support its researchers through increased funding and find ways to make Indian publishers globally competitive.

How India Can Use Its G-20 Presidency To Build A Techno-Democratic Alliance

In the year 2023, India will have the opportunity to preside over one of the key international alliances, i.e. G-20. The G-20 remains an elite group of economically and technologically developed nations which control the global economy in the current scenario. India’s presidency next year offers an opportunity for the government to set critical agendas for the group. One of the key areas that India can focus on as part of its presidency can be technology and bringing like-minded states together on the technological front. Considering the primacy of technology in both the economic and foreign policy realm, it is in India’s interest to push for an alliance between techno-democracies to regulate and govern the use of critical technologies in the future.

Xi Jinping’s CCP is daring to go where even Taliban wouldn’t — separate kids from smartphones

The strongest of the four fundamental forces known to modern physics is called, well, the strong force. At the same distance it is 137 times stronger than electromagnetism and 1038 times more powerful than gravity. The strong force keeps sub-atomic particles attached to each other.

Modern physicists who are also modern parents know better. The strongest force in nature is the one that keeps teenagers attached to smartphones.

BrahMos, INS Vikrant have immense capability but also expose India’s short-sightedness

The accidental firing of an unarmed BrahMos missile into Pakistan has resulted in the sacking of three Air Force officers. In all probability, the speed and mode of delivering justice, within five months of the incident, must have been guided by the imperatives of secrecy.

While the accident could not have occurred without the failure of safety systems at multiple levels, human error must have been the prime culprit. Moreover, it was not a combat situation where the psychological impact of danger and uncertainty could have fuelled the error, which was the case in the accidental shooting down of an Mi-17 helicopter in Kashmir, a day after the Balakot air strike, that resulted in the death of six IAF personnel and one civilian. Two IAF officers were punished.