Introduction The Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023 introduces parental consent (“consent-gating”) as the primary safeguard for children’s access to digital platforms, premised on the belief that parents are best positioned to protect minors’ privacy and well-being. This approach emerges against a backdrop where adolescents’ digital immersion has become near-universal, with smartphones acting as […]

Loss and Damage, Technology Transfer and Just Transition in Climate Negotiations: Why They Remain Aspirational Loss and Damage, Technology Transfer and Just Transition in Climate Negotiations have increasingly emerged as central pillars of equitable global climate action. These concepts were introduced to address the uneven distribution of climate impacts, technological capacities, and historical responsibilities between

Land Acquisition before EIA and Article 21: Dilution of Environmental Rights in India Environmental justice in India refers to the equitable protection of ecological systems while ensuring that developmental benefits and burdens are fairly distributed. Over the decades, the judiciary expanded Article 21 to include the right to a clean and healthy environment, reading it

Tax Buoyancy and Fiscal Discipline: Why Indirect Tax Buoyancy Remains Weak Under GST Tax buoyancy plays a critical role in maintaining fiscal discipline by ensuring that government revenues grow in tandem with economic expansion. In India, while direct taxes have shown strong responsiveness to GDP growth, the persistently low indirect tax buoyancy—despite the maturation of

India–U.S. Trade Deal: Tariff Reduction and Its Impact on Labour-Intensive Exports The India–U.S. trade deal marks a significant development in India’s external trade policy by proposing a sharp reduction in U.S. tariff barriers on Indian goods. At a time of global trade uncertainty and supply-chain realignments, this understanding has important implications for export competitiveness, employment

Hydrological Connectivity of Indian Wetlands: Impact of Urbanization and Role of GIS & Remote Sensing The hydrological connectivity of Indian wetlands is increasingly under stress due to rapid urbanization and persistent administrative lapses. Disruptions in natural water flows between wetlands, their catchments and downstream systems have intensified urban floods, groundwater decline and ecological degradation. In

Public-Led Capex Model in India: Implications for Industrial Growth and Domestic Demand Introduction: Public-led capital expenditure refers to the State using budgetary resources to drive economic growth by investing directly in infrastructure, industrial capacity and strategic sectors, with the expectation that such spending crowds in private investment and stimulates demand through multiplier effects. Over the

Chinese Economy Structural Shift: From Investment-Led Growth to New Productive Forces and Lessons for India The Chinese economy structural shift represents a long-term transformation in the composition of growth drivers, sectoral output, and sources of productivity. China’s recent economic trajectory illustrates such a shift—from a high-investment, export-heavy model to one increasingly driven by domestic consumption