national-agriculture-policy

Agriculture is an integral constituent of Indian culture, from early civilization of societal evolution and hence principally known as an agrarian country. Farmers of this land had been demonstrating their skill and innovative practices in cultivation of range of crops with domestic animal sources. Post-independence population of India grown from 36 cr to 140 cr till 2022 and is estimated to 166 cr by 2050. Recent reports shown that, though India is progressing to achieve self-sufficiency in food grains productivity, many major environmental challenges such as loss of soil fertility, waterlogging, pollution, excessive use of fertilizers and pest controllers, leading to imbalance in the farm ecology. Although MSP has changed the scope of cultivation, it has led many farmers to adopt mono cropping patterns which has led to depletion of fresh groundwater resources resulted in increasing baseline water stress. Dependency on imports for oil and oilseeds costs national reserves and sovereignty on food security.

According to a report during 2019-20, agriculture and allied sectors absorbed a total of 45.6% employees. (PLFS data, NITI Aayog 2022). The extreme weather resulting in crop losses estimated at around 0.25% of India’s GDP (Singh et al., 2019), the small and marginal land hold farmers affected in every natural disaster. About 3,40,000 ha crop area and over 59,000 livestock was affected in early 2022: all these causing farmers’ increased debt burden, and some commit suicide. It is also reported that average income from farming per day: Rs 26.67 and average debt on a farmer is over Rs 74,000. (NSSO, 2021).

Despite adoption of new technologies, development and knowledge initiatives including MGNREGA 2005, KVK, FPOs, APMCs, e-NAM, NABARD, Agro financial institutions and many NGOs, urban migration is growing, which causes irrational use of natural resources, pollution, security, and employment. Hence, considering the needs of growing population, food security and nutrition, carbon footprint, global warming, national agriculture policy shall be drafted where the welfare of farmer is priority while the Rural India rises to increase their stake in national development.

Role of Music and Sports in Education

Howard Gardner, an American psychologist challenged the view of the existence of a single intelligence and gave the Theory of Multiple Intelligence which suggests that ‘humans have several other significant intellectual capacities,’ ranging from logical-mathematical, spatial, linguistic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, Bodily-Kinesthetic, Musical, Naturalist, Existential to Spiritual Intelligence. Every individual has a ‘Unique Individual Potential’ which can be unlocked by applying the Theory of Multiple Intelligence.

Our education system has undermined the holistic development of children and focussed on rote-learning, captured the Intellectual Quotient (IQ) of people, assessing the linguistic, logical-mathematical and sometimes spatial intelligence of individuals, overlooking the other discrete intellectual capacities of individuals.

Empirical evidence shows that Music and Sports lead to physiological changes and have therapeutic effects which relax the mind, enhance our motor skills, make us more disciplined, helps us in crisis management, along with many other benefits.

We are here attempting to understand the role of music and sports in education and how exposure to music and sports at an early age leads to cognitive development of children, unlocking the potential of each individual, leading to their academic success and growth in career.

Social Impact Index

Social Impact of a Social Initiative

Social initiative reflects thoughts and perspectives of an individual or group of people. The vision and mission of such initiative principally builds on, the eternal principles, such as ‘welfare’ and ‘wellbeing’ of humanity and the world. The executive stakeholders and fund givers of the initiative get inspire themselves to join the social mission vide the principles, value systems and the outcomes of the proposed project. While the working stakeholders including volunteers and employees engage themselves in discharging their responsibilities at most care and commitment. Several organizations allocate portion of capital to drive in their mission objectives through corporate social responsibility.

Why Social Impact?

Sustenance of a social initiative counts on three prime aspects (1) the value systems that manifests vision and mission of the initiative (2) Grants and infrastructure (3) the executive leadership and operational team. In fact, all the required human capital, expertise, funds, infrastructure, and resources are being sourced from the society, hence, it’s very essential to assess their utilization of resources and impact of the social initiative.

The impact of an initiative be assessed based on governing framework that maps the principles, value systems on which it was built spreading across the scope of its operations, aboriginal sociocultural systems, and environment. Along with the financial audit, a periodical and wholistic impact assessment of contributions delivered for “societal welfare and wellbeing” would provide insights to analyze the landscape of social work and its social value portfolio. The analysis outcomes are certainly significant in strategic thinking for social interventions as well as making a shift in long-term and short-term executive decisions for achieving the social objectives. Further these results embraces stakeholders’ leadership, teamwork, motivation, dedication levels in giving back to the society. An inquiry on feedback from all the operational levels from beneficiaries manifests the missions inclusive and integral practices in rendering the services.

why-phd

PhD is the recognition of an individual’s contribution to their field of research, bringing of new ideas to the table and addition of new knowledge to their domain. The role of a PhD in academia and research cannot be overstated. Research drives innovation and contributes to a nation’s intellectual and economic growth.

Although India has in the recent years witnessed a sharp increase in enrollment in PhD, it has historically failed on enticing its young graduates to pursue research, for several reasons. The entire Indian ecosystem surrounding PhD is riddled with problems and has hampered the nation’s ability to rise as a hub for innovation.

Why PhD seeks to undertake a comprehensive study of the research landscape in India for PhD graduates and hopefuls. What are the many challenges that lie in their wake and what could be done to remedy it. How must the system evolve in the age of technology to accommodate the concerns of the many and eliminate the many redundant processes and procedures that delay our country’s progress.

d-82

The World Bank’s country classification system looks at the nation’s Gross national income and categorises them into low income, lower middle income, upper middle income and high-income groups. As per the world bank’s definition, 82 countries fall under the category of low income and lower middle income which we term as developing nations. The number of nations which fall in this category have increased over the years, adding 4 new nations to this category during the pandemic, including Indonesia. The pressing priority of today’s time for the developing nations is to have an organisation, a unified force to reckon with, an association which will combine the energies of these 82 developing nations to help tackle the problems they all are facing on a daily basis.  A new grouping of the global south, with much vigour and dedication, will make sure that resource allocation is done judiciously and ensure that real control over their resources lies with them. Such a grouping will also counteract domination by developed countries on the global stage, making certain that resources are sustainably used. It will act as a catalyst and will ensure a stronger presence of developing nations in various global platforms and intergovernmental associations to influence decisions in favour of them. It will provide them with a unified voice to put forth their opinions on the world stage. This grouping will make them self-sufficient in terms of development, economic or otherwise, as they could leverage each other’s strong suits and eradicate each other’s shortcomings.

food-security

The world is currently facing some of the dire problems that humans could have ever thought of and one of them is food insecurity. Today we are finding it difficult to unfastened this problem. As of 2020, around 690 million people (8.9% of the global population) were hungry and in 2019, one in ten people in the world experienced extreme food insecurity despite the fact that there is enough food produced worldwide to feed everyone. This trend shows the necessity for everyone to always have access to food in the optimum amount and quality.

The situation of the World’s food security is at peril on multiple fronts. The world cannot talk about peace without addressing the issue of food insecurity. The moot question is what routes are we resorting to in order to address and work on this issue? Effective interventions need to be made to transpose the cycle of the food system from being vulnerable to more secured and immune. Food insecurity aspects are not just limited to food, agriculture, and ecology. It has worldwide cause and effects ranging from conflicts, urbanization, culture, to supply chains. The COVID-19 pandemic has raised questions about new habits and patterns in the global food system. This report gives the reality check of where the world is standing in terms of basic food security, and makes governments and people, across the globe, to contemplate and take necessary actions as the clock is ticking.

state-of-policing-in-india

In the recipe to cook democracy, the rule of law is one of the essential ingredients, if not the most. Police officials play a vital role in maintaining the rule of law. They make certain that everyone abides by it and play a central role in our criminal justice system as police officials are the face of this system and are the first point of contact whenever someone’s rights are violated. Police officials are expected-off to maintain peace and harmony in society, protect citizens’ rights and liberties, and enforce the laws of the land. In every country, Police officials have to perform such diverse duties, which they can’t perform efficaciously without a sound policing infrastructure, efficient internal structure, and well-trained and sensitised personnel who are healthy mentally and physically.

India is determined to become an economic superpower, though the current criminal justice system often causes hindrance rather than catalysing this transition. According to many critics, our criminal justice system has become obsolete, and it is need of the hour to revitalise it, and for this to manifest into reality, we, as a society, need to deepdive and pinpoint the issues plaguing our criminal justice system, starting with our police forces so that police officials
can perform their duties efficaciously.

Most studies in this area are purely observational, in the sense that the issues they focus on aren’t determined by the ones who face these daily. A true and vibrant democracy requires a well-functioning criminal justice system, and for that, police officials and all stakeholders of the system need to be heard, from the lowest rung to the highest decisionmakers in the country.

This study entails providing insights on the aforementioned issues. The objective of this study is to conduct offthe-record interviews of people who are/were police officials or are/were associated with the police in India to understand the issues they face. This study focuses on six overarching themes and how they play a role in determining how the policing system works. These themes are:

  1. Motivational Factors
  2. Structural Issues
  3. Mental Health
  4. Political Interference
  5. Infrastructural Issues
  6. Physical Health

The project endeavors to determine the cost the nation is paying for not having judicial reforms. It aims to calculate the costs borne by all stakeholders in the judiciary, with a particular emphasis on litigants. In terms of loss, it seeks to study the business loss, losses incurred by corporate entities, mental health and loss to the GDP of our country due to defunct properties because of perennial litigation. The Project will deliver the cost of not doing judicial reforms and the cost or investment required to do judicial reforms, and it will provide recommendations as well.

Believe in this cause and want to contribute. Fill up our survey here.

India is a country of vast cultural and topographic diversity; with that comes differences in tastes and preferences, habits and consumption levels. Determining CPI (Consumer Price Index) by grouping Indians on the basis of their occupation in rural and urban areas might fail to capture the true value of consumption and expenditure.
The Cost of Living Index (COLI) aims at determining the cost of living in India by considering the magnitude of variances or differences in consumption patterns at the ground level of our country based on needs and preferences. 
It follows an approach of expenditure-based determination with the sample based on topological diversification.
You can also contribute to this Project by taking our survey – Link

World in Conversation - The High Tea

India is a land of plethora of rich cultures but the exoticness of distinct cultures from across the world is yet to be surfed on the waves of our curiosity. The World In Conversation- The High Tea program is a series of events and part of the project “What the World teaches us”. It’s an effort to exchange the uniqueness and heterogeneity of our culture, heritage, and practices, and bring countries’ eccentric side to the table.

The unique forum is a first of its kind for Culture Exchange and to promote the richness of every nation for better understanding. The High Tea has been built around three thematic areas: Reflection of the country on its Heritage & Values, its Contribution and Message to the world, and a Conversation about the places to visit in that particular country. We believe, this forum will enable disseminating of the rich heritage, and values across the globe. Through this distinctive effort, we sincerely hope that these conversations will lead to a deeper knowledge and offer insight for the global audience on understanding the countries. We will publish a coffee table book on these conversations for global outreach.