Tuesday, March 26, 2019

27 March 2019: The US-China Trade War and Rising: What should Asia do?

Peter Drysdale, and Shiro Armstrong
Australian National University

Abstract:
The trade war between the United States and China, and rising protectionism, are threatening the global trading system. Whatever the outcome of the negotiations between the US and China, there will be implications for the global trade regime. What should be Asia's response to these new circumstances?

Date: March 27, 2019
Time: 11:30 A.M.

Venue:
NCAER Conference Room,
The NCAER India Centre
Parisila Bhawan, 11, Indraprastha Estate
New Delhi-110002(INDIA)

Note:
For queries, please contact Ms Sudesh Bala at sbala@ncaer.org or on +91-11-2345-2722.

Location:

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Monday, March 25, 2019

27 March 2019: Consequences of son preference in India

Seema Jayachandran
Northwestern University

Organised by
ISI (Indian Statistical Institute) Delhi Center, in collaboration with IWWAGE at IFMR (Institute for Financial Management and Research)

Chair:
Madhuri Mukherjee, IWWAGE (Initiative for What Works to Advance Women and Girls in the Economy)

Abstract:
This talk will provide an overview of the links between economic factors and gender inequality, as well as the role of cultural norms in perpetuating gender gaps. Prof. Jayachandran will then discuss the ways in which gender inequality in India is more severe than in most other societies. One such way is the pronounced favoritism towards sons. She will discuss implications of son preference and some potential solutions aimed at expanding opportunities for women and girls.

Date: March 27, 2019
Time: 03:30 P.M.

Venue:
Conference Room, Administration Block,
Indian Statistical Institute Delhi Centre,
7, S. J. S. Sansanwal Marg,
New Delhi-110016 (INDIA)

Location:

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Friday, March 22, 2019

25 March 2019: What’s the beef with beef? The persistent health effects of cattle slaughter bans in India

Aparajita Dasgupta
Ashoka University

Organised by
Centre de Sciences Humaines (CSH)

Abstract:
Using a triple differences-in-difference strategy along with an event study design, we show that cattle slaughter bans reduce the availability of beef for the poor. In the long-term we find that early life exposure to cow slaughter bans leads to lower levels of hemoglobin (Hb) for poor women in communities that traditionally eat beef, who are up to 10% more likely to be anaemic in their prime reproductive ages.

Date: March 25, 2019
Time: 05:00 A.M.

Venue:
Conference Room (Ground Floor)
Centre for Science and Humanities (CSH),
2, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Road,
New Delhi - 110 011

Note:
For registration: RSVP mentioning your full name to be sent to: neeru.gohar@csh-delhi.com

Location:

Wednesday, March 20, 2019

26 March 2019: Talk on 'Intricacies of Interstate Water Coordination Challenges: A View from Rajasthan'

Naveen Mahajan
Secretary, Water Resources, Rajasthan

Organised by
Centre for Policy Research and the Central Water Commission

Abstract:
With over 10% of India's landmass and just 1% of India's surface water to contend with, Rajasthan is a water scarce state. To compound matters, it lies virtually at the tail-end of interstate rivers, Ravi- Beas or Yamuna or Narmada. The talk will bring out the interstate coordination challenges of getting its due share in lucid detail. At times, the State relies on the benevolence, or rather mercy of the upstream States. Despite advances in modern technology, the releases of water are still wrapped in a cloak of opacity either by design or by neglect. Even the basic data of water flows is not captured on real time basis to share across the concerned States. The advantageous power-relation of the upstream States gets reflected in many ways. Projects for drawing the allocated share keeps getting stalled, and the delays become inordinately long. Even the basic deposit works supposed to be carried out on Feeder canals by such States don't get the priority they deserve! Even the basic deposit works supposed to be carried out on Feeder canals by such States don't get the priority they deserve!

We need effective instruments with autonomy and neutrality for interstate coordination to ensure equitable access to water scarce States and downstream States like Rajasthan. The interests of downstream States suffer because of absence of robust interstate institutional mechanisms to coordinate and work with other States.

Date: March 26, 2019
Time: 03:30 A.M.

Venue:
CWC Auditorium,
1st Floor, Library Building,
R K Puram,
New Delhi - 110021

Note:
Please RSVP at treads@cprindia.org.

Monday, March 18, 2019

4 April 2019: Understanding and reducing crop residue burning in North India

Max Freidrich
Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology

Organised by:
International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie)

Chair:
Neeta Goel, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie)

Discussant:
Sunita Narain, Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi and Santosh Harish, Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi

Abstract:
Crop residue burning in Northern India causes severe air pollution and depletes soil fertility. According to media reports, farmers, who continue despite a ban, claim that they have no alternative. While law enforcement and a lack of mechanical alternatives have been proposed as the main reasons for crop residue burning, the mindset of farmers remains unknown.

Max Freidrich will present the results of a recent study using the risks, attitudes, norms, abilities and self-regulation psychological theory approach to determine the main drivers of and barriers to reducing crop residue burning. The discussion will focus on how they play a key role in crop residue management and how population-tailored behaviour change interventions can complement existing efforts to tackle crop residue burning.

Date: April 4, 2019
Time: 03:00 P.M.

Venue:
Lecture Hall 1, Annexe,
India International Centre,
New Delhi – 110001 (India)

Location:

Friday, March 8, 2019

12 March 2019: 7th A. N. Varma Memorial lecture on "The European Union in a time of great change"

Göran Persson
former Prime Minister of Sweden

Organised by
India Development Foundation (IDF)

Date: March 12, 2019
Time: 07:00 P.M.

Venue:
Longchamp
Taj Mahal Hotel,
1, Mansingh Road,
New Delhi-110 011(India)

Note:
As seats are limited, kindly confirm your attendance at sghosh@idfresearch.org or +91 9830179678.

Location:

Thursday, March 7, 2019

14 March 2019: Workshop on "India's Apex Institutions"

Organised by
Centre for Policy Research and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Abstract:
The goal of the workshop is to interrogate how apex institutions manage four issues: the recruitment and management of human capital; external accountability to the public; internal accountability mechanisms; and independence from the political executive. Over the course of the day, we will focus our attention on six institutions: the investigative agencies, the Reserve Bank of India, India’s statistical agencies, the Election Commission of India, the Comptroller and Auditor General, and the Central Information Commission.

Date: March 14, 2019
Time: 09:30 A.M.

Venue:
Conference Room II
India International Centre (Annexe)
Max Mueller Marg,
New Delhi - 110003(INDIA)

Location:

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Wednesday, March 6, 2019

14 March 2019: Dialogues on Sanitation: 'Assembling Private Sector Participation for a Safe and Sustainable Urban Sanitation Future'

Organised by
Centre for Policy Research

Agenda

Abstract:
Existing models of ‘public-private-partnerships’ for urban sanitation need to be brought within considered regulatory and economic frameworks that enable private actors and public sectors to effectively share risks and deliver sustainable sanitation outcomes.

Until recently, the dominant paradigm for wastewater management in urban India consisted of providing underground, networked sewerage across cities and towns. However, providing networked sewerage across rapidly expanding urban areas has proven to be a resource-intensive, technically complex and lengthy proposition with the net result that only one-third of the urban residents are served by sewerage.

In the absence of planned sewerage, nearly 60% of toilet-owning households in urban India are connected to on-site sanitation (OSS) systems- underground containment structures like septic tanks or pits that hold the waste at the point of disposal. Well-designed OSS systems provide a degree of primary treatment and would require periodic emptying and further treatment before disposal into the environment. Moreover, anecdotal evidence indicates that most of the 5.5 million toilets constructed under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban), till date, have been connected to OSS systems as well. Yet, this high prevalence of private infrastructure had not, till recently, spurred cities to develop the enabling institutional processes, regulatory frameworks or physical capacity to safely collect, transport, treat and dispose or reuse “faecal sludge” and “septage” (Faecal Sludge Management or FSM).

Much of this gap has been filled by informal enterprises that employ a mix of mechanised and manual cleaning methods. Despite the ubiquity of these service providers in the FSM sector there is still insufficient understanding of these enterprises and their operations. How do they enter this market? What are the profit margins and break-even points? What are the customer-segmentation and negotiation approaches? Can we define limits to scale for these enterprises? Given the recent surge in policy focus through the National Policy for Faecal Sludge and Septage Management (NFSSM 2017) and funding under the national AMRUT scheme for FSM facilities in eligible cities, it Is imperative to develop a detailed awareness of these answers and their impact on the market. This would ensure the development of the nascent FSM market and avoid ‘locking' cities into sub-optimal waste management processes.

In the past two years, many states have begun the process of building and operating FSM infrastructure using PPP models. States like Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh have made significant steps towards creating viable tendering processes and generating interest amongst private sector actors, experimenting with different contractual arrangements and stages of value-chain integration to suit their context.

To further this process and better understand the emerging interfaces between markets and regulatory frameworks, CPR has undertaken detailed case studies of the FSM market in four cities- Goa, Chennai, Ujjain and Jabalpur- to understand the market potential and risk-sharing strategies developed amongst communities, private entrepreneurs and governments.

Against this background, it is proposed to have a half-day 'Dialogue on PSP in Sanitation' to discuss these issues, bringing in private-sector practitioners and infrastructure experts, sanitation sector professionals and policymakers to share their insights and experience.

The objective of the Dialogue is to attempt to connect the dots between the various practitioners and experts in the field, to learn from their experience in states and their experience in implementation and initiate a broader discussion on the potential for and alternative private sector participation in the sanitation value chain.

Date: March 14, 2019
Time: 02:00 P.M.

Venue:
Seminar Room, First Floor,
The Nehru Memorial Museum & Library (NMML)
Teen Murti Marg,
New Delhi-110011(INDIA)

Note:
Please RSVP at sci-fi@cprindia.org

Location:

Friday, March 1, 2019

13 March 2019: From Skilling to good employment: The missing links

Goutam Das
Business Today

Abstract:
India’s jobs and wages challenge is an intricate equation, with a clear prefix, a middle, and a suffix. Skilling, sometimes multi-skilling, is the biggest way to fight the wage crisis and the coming jobs crisis — the crucial prefix. The middle of the equation is the matchmaking of talent with demand. When the supply and demand don’t equilibrate, the result is a bad job. The suffix is what happens after people start to work. In India, all the there parts of the equation have something rotten. It is time the building blocks are put in place: what does it mean to skill for the future and what does it take to enable the youth stay in a company and make a career?

Date: March 13, 2019
Time: 04:30 P.M.

Venue:
Conference Hall, Ground Floor
R&T Building
National Institute of Public Finance and Policy,
18/2 Satsang Vihar Marg, Special Institutional Area,
New Delhi-110067(INDIA)

Note:
Those who are interested may please confirm your participation at latha.balasubramanian@nipfp.org.in

Location:

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