The paper focuses on various factors influencing India’s investment climate, with particular emphasis on direct investment from abroad. A combination of descriptive and statistical analyses has been used to analyze the different aspects of the investment climate in India. The analysis is based on data coming from different sources as well as legal documents and research papers. The strength of India is primarily knowledge, human resources and a good macroeconomic prospect, while insufficient infrastructure, bureaucracy and corruption appear to be the most serious barriers to carry out investment projects. There is also an urgent need to increase the pace of reforms in the legal system, including the tax law, labor law and business regulations. However, the investment climate in India, despite the many shortcomings mentioned above, is regarded as friendly to investors. The dynamic growth in FDI flows to India (except at the time of the global financial crisis) and the high position in the rankings of investment attractiveness seem to confirm this thesis. The paper undertakes a macro-level analysis treating India as a homogeneous subject and not dealing with the regional differences in the investment climate. The paper presents a comprehensive look at the issue of the investment climate in India, which goes beyond the so-called investment freedom, which is a set of formal and informal barriers hampering investment inflows to the economy as well as incentives and other facilitations attracting them. To locate the best possible place for an investment, a foreign investor takes into account a much broader context, being the result of various factors, including political, social and economic issues.
India’s political coherence largely depends on New Delhi’s ability to build a system of cross-cultural compromises among various communities. While the Muslim minority has lived and prospered in India for more than one thousand years, its relations with the Hindu majority have not always been harmonious. The partition of India in 1947 became a political reference point for many radical politicians interested in inciting communal conflicts that bring them political gains. Indian Muslims remain an ethnically and ideologically divided community and have not succeeded in setting up one political party in independent India. They are usually represented by regional parties in different states, but in all-India elections they frequently vote en bloc for the Indian National Congress, which is commonly perceived as a secular party opposed to extremist Hindu ideology. The author briefly analyses the history of Indian Muslims, presents the political consequences of the “Two Nations” theory and explains the reasons behind inter-religious clashes in contemporary India, predicting that the position of Indian Muslims will become a subject of fierce political debate in the years to come.
Soft power plays an increasingly important role in international relations at a time of growing interdependence and globalisation. Also India, quietly but consistently, has over the past two decades developed new instruments and built up capacities for projecting its “power of attraction.” The article presents the place of soft power in India’s foreign policy and examines the strengths and challenges of the new approach. Contrary to some concerns about a more hard power-oriented posture of the new BJP government, the author argues that it will rather reinforce the country’s soft power. In combination with growing hard power potential, this can make India a major global smart power in the 21st century.
The essay focuses on reproductive tourism and estrangement not only from our products and people who produce what we consume but also from our emotions and our intimate lives. Concretely, the author focuses on experience of commercial surrogates in India – poor women in whom a couple’s embryo is implanted and who carry that baby to term for domestic or foreign clients. Drawing on interviews, the author analyses the world’s largest womb rental service and how – out of financial need – the surrogate manages her emotional ties to her own body.
In India, the phenomenon of Hinglish has rapidly emerged from being a fashionable style of speech to a significant force instrumental in bringing about a major paradigm shift in social demography. Globalization and economic liberalization has served as catalysts to amplify this uniform communication code, which is currently blurring the linguistic barriers in a country speaking 780 dialects. Hinglish is redefining the cultural conventions in marketing/advertisement, Bollywood, and communication styles present in social media and the Internet. Its claim to be a proper language is substantiated by its acknowledgement on prestigious literary forums. While the concept is welcomed by both the marketplace and the masses as a beneficial symbiotic experience, it has also left the stakeholders of standard language, both Hindi and English, fretting and fuming. Amidst all the celebrations and concerns, the corpus of Hinglish is constantly widening and evolving because it is has been internalized, and not imposed, by the society as its own creation. The language accommodates diversity, lends flexibility, and suits the temperament of modern India. This paper studies how Hinglish has managed to seep into the very fabric of Indian society, restructuring the governing norms and practices. The paper also attempts to reflect how Hinglish is much more than just a language hybrid.
Malnutrition is a leading cause of child mortality in India. To counteract this problem, a nutrition supplementation programme has been operating under the Integrated Child Development Service (ICDS) scheme in India since 1975. Recently, the Composite Index of Anthropometric Failure (CIAF) has been implemented to measure the seriousness and severity of overall under-nutrition in a population. Since this index presents a more complete picture than the previous three conventional measures. CIAF is utililized in this study which focuses on the overall burden of under-nutrition determination in pre-school children in Purba Medinipur, West Bengal, India. Our study was conducted in 10 Integrated Child Development Service (ICDS) centres, commonly known as “Anganwadi”, in the villages of the Argoal Gram Panchayat at Patashpur - II block. The total sample of 225 Bengalee ethnic children aged between 3 and 6 years was composed of 115 girls and 110 boys. The overall age and gender-combined prevalence of stunting, underweight and wasting recorded was 30.7%, 42.7% and 12.0%, respectively, and these rates were considered high (30-39%), very high (≥ 40%) and high (10-14%), respectively. CIAF results revealed the same trend, with 50.2% of these children affected by anthropometric failure, with the prevalence of underweight, wasting and CIAF higher in boys than in girls. This 50.2% CIAF result highlighted that approximately half the study children were undernourished. Since this figure is much higher than that estimated by any of the three conventional indicators,, CIAF has thus proven a far better indicator in assessing the overall burden of under-nutrition in a population. The nutritional status of the children in this study requires serious remedial action.
Tuberculosis (TB) is a social disease with medical aspects accounting for 8.7 million new cases and 1.4 million deaths in the year 2011 worldwide. International standards for TB care (ISTC) were formulated to develop uniform guidelines for ensuring the delivery of a widely accepted level of care by all health care practitioners in managing TB patients, or those suspected to have tuberculosis. India alone has contributed 25% of the globally reported new cases of TB in 2011 and is also the leading nation in accounting for drug resistant TB (DR-TB). Thus to develop uniform standards of TB care and to engage private sector which caters to more than 70% of TB patients, the “central TB division” has developed standards of TB care in India (STCI). These local standards have been designed after taking into account the guidelines of the World Health Organization and ISTC disease control STCI has proposed 26 standards (viz. diagnosis – 1 to 6; treatment – 7 to 11; public health – 12 to 21; social inclusion – 22 to 26) for effective prevention and control of TB. To conclude, the Indian standards of TB care have been proposed to emphasize on individual patient care and public health principles of disease control for ultimately reducing not only the suffering but also the economic losses from tuberculosis.
Pakistan’s security policy is defined, articulated and implemented by the country’s army. This is a problem at many levels, mostly because the security policy history is full of shortsighted mistakes, delusional adventurism, and a narrowly defined concept of national interest. Pakistan’s reputation as an exporter and facilitator of terrorism is mostly in line with the Pakistani state’s historical actions. In order for Pakistan to function as a stable, democratic and constitutional state, it would have to change the way it imagines itself and its role in the world at large. But the Pakistani military is not going to hand its monopoly over security policy to anyone in the foreseeable future, because the military mind has proven itself to be largely incapable of doing this. This has serious implications for India.
The emergence of resistance to first-line drugs used to treat tuberculosis (TB) has become a significant public health concern and an obstacle in implementation of effective TB control activities globally. In India, Revised National TB Control Program (RNTCP) introduced the programmatic management of drug-resistant TB (PMDT) services to address the needs of MDR-TB patients. To execute the plan with perfection, RNTCP has devised MDR suspect criteria – A, B, and C so that gradually PMDT services can be extended to the whole country. These criteria were framed to run in tandem with the strengthening of the laboratory services so that the existing certified laboratories can carry out the culture and DST services without being overburdened. Altogether, RNTCP is committed for the strengthening and capacity building of its resources to offer culture and DST services right at the time of diagnosis.
The aim of this paper is to understand the economic reforms that were undertaken in the late 1980s and early 1990s in India and their relevance today. The study is based on a literature review. The findings from the literature review are validated from data on growth at the national and regional levels. It was found that much of the effects of the reforms are relevant even today in the Indian context. There has been a positive impact on growth due to liberalisation policies. Economic indicators such as GDP and FDI have been on an increasing trend. The removal of trade barriers has had a positive effect on industry. Employment opportunities have increased in both rural and urban areas resulting in a reduction in unemployment. On the negative side, the observed growth is not inclusive. There has been regional a disparity in growth among the different states with some states growing faster than others. Moreover, not all sectors enjoy the benefits of liberalisation. The agriculture sector, for example, has not seen any or at least very few reforms. Thus to sum up, the government of India needs to continue the reforms and ensure that the benefits of an open market reaches one and all.
This article is concentrated on a difficult period in sino-indian relations. After short friendly relations in mid 1950's, called in publications Hindi Chini Bhai Bhai, which means Indians and Chinese are brothers, at the end of 1950's and beginning of 1960's both countries were considered the opposite as an aggressor and - potentially - long term competitor. Both countries changed their strategies and tactics. The border war of 1962 was a result of such politics. It could be not directly connected with article's title although author try to emphasise Indian and Chinese foreign policy towards Pakistan, USA and USSR, as key players in international relations in eastern hemisphere. The issue of Tibetan revolution, and the escalation of power in the border area between India and China, which includes Sikkim and Bhutan is also discussed.
The article analyzes the possibility of India becoming a global power. This vast, highly populated and strategically located country already has great potential - economic, military, political, cultural and scientific. While a lot has been written about „the elephant's" economic boom and its foreign affairs with other countries, the author was eager and devoted to present the current situation and the necessary developments which will enable India to achieve glo¬bal power status within the next four decades. The analysis of the potential of this country is made by studying its internal affairs. The author describes advantages and chances contributing positive¬ly to India's power aspirations, as well as obstacles and threats curbing development. She also provides characterization of India and its people, and analyzes specific features and phenomena of the nation and the state - both strengths and weaknesses relevant in the endeavor to gain power status. The main part of the paper outlines social, cultural, religious, political, economic and ecological problems facing that country. The conclusion states that India can become a global power - only if it effectively overcomes its internal challenges.
Since 1991 the world’s interest in South Asia has been rising continually. On the parallel basis India s ambitions and its commitment to international affairs influenced both foreign and economic policy. This is to observe also with respect to increase in regional cooperation in South Asia. In the mid-point of the 21st century India will become the most populous nation worldwide. Due to in-depth changes within India s economy which began in the early nineties India enjoys accelerated economic growth which could spill all over the region. This involves changes across the society and growing domestic demand. Thanks to increased openness of the Indian economy the volume of regional trade begins to rise eventually. India attracts more foreign investment and draws investors’ attention to other South Asian countries. This article also aims at highlighting India s key role in regional political and economic cooperation within SAARC and BIMSTEC. The author also concentrates on new perspectives of Indian foreign policy i.e. the Look-East-Policy and a new approach to Indian Ocean. Contrary to a common belief that specific Indian political culture may hamper solving regional, mainly boundary, conflicts, and the author argues that India in the decades to come will take advantage of its democratic political system to prove its readiness to assume a more pragmatic stance towards China, Pakistan, Myanmar and Bangladesh. This is critical for India in order to sustain its success.
At the turn of the 21st century India has embarked upon a new policy towards the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, with development policy as one of its major features. This resulted from the fact that socio-economic and developmental issues became crucial for India in the post-Cold War era. The leaders of these countries realized that in the face of the globalization of economic processes and the increased importance of inter-dependencies, economic reforms are essential. Despite significant differences between the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, they share the desire to overcome socioeconomic limitations and to achieve sustained economic development. Furthermore, the Chinese factor is a major determinant of cooperation between India and Sub-Saharan Africa. India and China compete with each other for access to raw energy materials in Africa, as well as in terms of political and economic interests in the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. India's relations with these countries also reflect a new policy and new approach to development issues, characterized by pragmatism, economization and the discarding of rhetoric and ideology, which are features of the new non-alignment.
Sreenivas, Srinivasarao and Srinivasa (2013) said that “The health care market has become consumer centered and expecting high quality care at a reasonable price. The mushroomed development of corporate hospitals in India, competition is also bringing massive changes in industry structure. In this context, hospital services’ marketing is slowly and surely coming of age and is being woven into the fabric of hospitals planning and public relations programmes.” The essence of any marketing activity is marketing mix, and the central theme of the present paper revolves around the contemporary service marketing mix offered by Indian hospitals. In this paper author has critically reviewed 51 papers to describe elements of hospital service marketing mix; product, price, place, promotion, people, process and physical evidence.
Paradoxicall y, following the end of the Cold War, India has been able to conduct an independent foreign policy in Africa. This can be seen in the evolution of relations with countries of the continent. Non-alignment has been replaced by the so-called new non-alignment. Its essence is the focus on economic issues in relations with African nations Non-alignment should therefore not exclude cooperation with other powers and countries of the North on issues such as terrorism and poverty. In addition, India wishes to act as a bridge between the North and South. The examples above are indication of a reorientation of Indian foreign policy. The consequences of these changes have been considerable, as the shift away from the Nehruvian approach to relations with the African states. These processes were accompanied by an evolution in India's negotiating style, whose new feature was the ability to say 'yes' and be open to cooperation. India has proven that it is capable of constructive action in international fora. The new strategy towards Africa should be analyzed in the context of new Indian international strategy. At the turn of the 21st century, India has applied geo-economic instruments and soft power in order to achieve its major-power aspirations. Indians believe that security issues require a broad and comprehensive concept of secu- rity, which takes into account the military, economic, ecological and social dimension of security. This was pointed out by an Indian researcher, P. R. Rajeswari, whose article 'From Geo-Politics to Geo-Economics' not only stresses the role of the economic factor in shaping a country's foreign policy, but also proclaims the decline of geopolitics and asserts the growing role of geo-economics in international relations. In the context of India, Smitha Radhakrishnan adds that the economy and knowledge have become the key attributes of 'new India's new strategy'. Trade policy along with its instruments have also been determining India's foreign policy to an increasing extent. The geopolitical and geo-economic situation following the Cold War and the global economic crisis have determined India's foreign policy in Africa. Understanding the ambitious, though occasionally ineffective actions taken by India in the field of foreign policy, with its determinants, assumptions, objectives and focus, appears to be justified and valuable, considering that India plays more important role in Africa.
In founding a new religious denomination – Sikhism – Guru Nanak in a way combine two rival religions – Hinduism and Islam. The tolerant nature of Sikhism garnered him many proponents, which contributed to the establishment of the Sikh Empire in the 19th century. The empire flourished until it was overthrown by armed forces of the British Crown. After the departure of the British colonisers in 1947, the idea of creating a sovereign Sikh state called Khalistan arose in Punjab – the cradle of Sikhism in India. Gradually, the sentiments of large portion of the Sikh population became radicalised. A terrorist organisation, formed by Sikh fundamentalist Jarnail Bhindranwale and supported by many Sikhs, began persecuting the followers of other religions and fighting for the creation of a Sikh state in Punjab. The radicalisation of public sentiments among the Sikh population led to mass pogroms, a military operation in the Sikhs’ holy place and the assassination of Indira Gandhi, the prime minister of India.
In December 2013 Devyani Khobragade, deputy consul general of the Consulate General of India in New York, was charged with committing visa fraud and providing false statements in order to obtain a visa for her Indian domestic servant, whom she had paid illegally low wages. She was arrested the next day by agents of the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service and transferred into the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. There she was subjected to a body‑cavity search and placed in a holding cell with common criminals, before being released on bond later the same day. She had to surrender her passport and was barred from leaving New York. Her arrest and treatment received much public attention, causing angry protests in India, and sparked a full‑scale diplomatic crisis between India and the United States. Indian authorities fully backed the diplomat, demanding an apology from the US State Department, and proceeded to retaliate against American diplomats when she was indicted. The crisis ended in May 2014 when the BJP party won national elections in India. This paper provides an in‑depth analysis of this complex and unusual incident, including its causes and direct consequences for Indo‑American relations.
JavaScript is turned off in your web browser. Turn it on to take full advantage of this site, then refresh the page.