Issue 44 - November 2010 - Creating new vote banks

[Pragati - The Indian National Interest Review]

Dear reader,

We continue our focus on transforming governance through political innovations this month, with a cover feature on a bold new idea to bring citizens together into "vote banks" that demand better public policies. You'll find an article on the lessons from the Commonwealth Games and another on the role of civil society. We also feature an argument for the government to resist strangling the microfinance industry by over-regulating it.

There's a centrespread in this issue! A handy reference to Asia's maritime military balance that you can put up on your wall. You can download it but why not get the high-quality print copy from a major bookstore (or by mail from Quill Media)?

In addition to this we have an argument that fears of a return to militancy in Kashmir are overblown; analysis of a new escalation in the world of cyber warfare; a proposal to improve India-Brazil relations and a review of Bob Woodward's new book on President Obama's Af-Pak policymaking. 

As a look at the contents reveals, there's a lot of "Fresh. Bold. Indian" for you to read this month. 

You can download the issue in PDF by clicking here (http://is.gd/gyJkx), visit a big bookstore (in Indian cities), or ask QuillMedia to send you printed copies. 

Read & Share! 

The Pragati Team

PS. We've redesigned our website. See http://pragati.nationalinterest.in 

Pragati - The Indian National Interest Review

Issue 44 - November 2010

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Highlights

The good vote banks How political parties can be compelled to deliver good governance Atanu Dey

Don't be afraid of the dark Why some fears over the unrest in Kashmir are overblown Sushant K Singh

Infographic Asia's Maritime Military Balance Aditya Dipankar & Anuj Agrawal (Download this A3 poster in PDF format)

Perspective 

How bazaar? Difficult choices lie ahead in defence procurement Manohar Thyagaraj

The Stuxnet development India could be the target of the next Stuxnet-type attack Srijith K Nair

Colonial cousins The makings of a fruitful India-Brazil relationship Joel Sandhu & Oliver Stuenkel

What Chinese threat? Border populations are less worried about the roads China is building Rajeev Ranjan Chaturvedy

On regulating microfinance Improve corporate governance, don’t stifle private initiative Gulzar Natarajan & Sriram Raghavan

What is civil society? Beyond NGOs and high-profile individuals Harini Calamur

Roundup
The growing governance gap The Commonwealth Games lessons Rohit Pradhan

An outdated syllabus The discredited Aryan Invasion Theory continues to be taught Jayakrishnan Nair

Books

Muddling along 'Obama's Wars' are also India's Barath C

Briefs

Filter Ravi Gopalan

Alif Rohan Joshi

Pareto Amol Agrawal

In Parliament Legislative Brief: The Companies Bill, 2009 M R Madhavan

Pragati - The Indian National Interest Review is a publication of The Takshashila Institution, an independent networked think tank on India's strategic affairs. http://takshashila.org.in. This is a digital community edition. You are encouraged to share it with your friends & colleagues.