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Outcome Budgeting in India: The Need for Re-Engineering

The transformation from the comforts of outlay budgeting to an environment of accountability with outcome budgeting is difficult but not impossible. This re-engineering is essential as in the absence of outcome budgeting, budget management may be ineffective and ineffective budget management would weaken the Public Financial Management (PFM) system. A weakened PFM could even threaten established economic, social and political equilibriums.

Alex Mintz and Karl DeRouen Jr., Understanding Foreign Policy Decision Making

Leaders make decisions to go to war, make peace, form alliances, establish diplomatic relations, take a position on nuclear nonproliferation, impose economic sanctions, or ratify global environmental agreements. The focus of Alex Mintz and Karl DeRouen’s book Understanding Foreign Policy Decision Making is this broad range of foreign policy decisions. The book presents a decision making approach to foreign policy analysis. The benefits of such an approach are that it analyses not only the outcomes of decisions but also the dynamics and the processes of decision making.

China’s Aircraft Carrier: Some Observations

China’s aircraft carrier programme will not only affect the balance of power in the Asia Pacific region but also add impetus to the Chinese maritime intent.

Avinash Godbole , Sarabjeet Singh Parmar
April 21, 2011
IDSA Comments

India-Pakistan Game-Theoretic Interplay

To make the transition from the prevalent Nash Equilibrium with its lower payoffs to Pareto-optimal which will yield higher pay offs, India and Pakistan must break away from their traditional thinking of making no concessions.

Kan Naoto’s Political Skills Under Test

If the political infighting continues, Japan will be left rudderless and the gigantic task of reconstruction will get complicated.

Rajaram Panda
April 20, 2011
IDSA Comments

Yury Gagarin and Space Rivalry

On the 50th anniversary of Gagarin’s space flight, the space scenario appears to be at a crossroads. Because of the economic and other geopolitical compulsions, major powers are found trading cautiously.

Ajey Lele
April 20, 2011
IDSA Comments

Time to Reassure Nepal

S.M. Krishna should reassure the people of Nepal that India has always acted in the interests of the Nepalese people and that it has no intention to interfere in the internal politics of the country.

Outcome Budgeting for Naval Dockyards

The Indian Navy (IN) has one Naval Dockyard (ND) each at Mumbai and Visakhapatnam and one Naval Ship Repair Yard (NSRY) each at Kochi, Port Blair and Karwar. The repair and refit requirements of IN ships and submarines are collectively met by the above mentioned repair agencies. NDs have the capacity and capability to handle Major Refits (MR). The Operational-cum-Refit cycle of each ship / class of ship is promulgated by IHQ MoD (N) from time to time.

Japan Continues to Battle Fukushima Nuclear Crisis

After the threat level for the Fukushima plant was raised from 5 to 7, Japan’s claims about the situation getting stabilised are being received with a degree of scepticism.

Rajaram Panda
April 18, 2011
IDSA Comments

Reconciling AFSPA with the Legal Spheres

The present paper analyses and examines the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in respect of legal aspects. It first discusses it in terms of domestic law, international humanitarian law (IHL) and human rights law. Given India’s obligations under international human rights instruments going beyond domestic law is necessary in any such discussion. Ensuring complementarity between the Act in its application in armed conflicts and IHL, would contribute towards making the Act more ‘humane’. The second part discusses the Act from security perspectives.