India

Shubha Chacko is a prominent LGBTQ activist from India. On the occasion of the landmark Supreme Court judgment decriminalizing a portion of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, she writes on the long fight against section 377, the challenges ahead and what it means for the society at large.

The Indian national identity system, Aadhaar, was set up to empower disadvantaged groups and enable digital innovation. However, it has sparked protests.

Over the last years, Asia has undergone an impressive digital transformation. Large parts of the continent have turned from the world’s factory into a creative industry. Digitalization has become a driving force of social and economic change. This certainly means more opportunities for innovation and growth for many countries. However, on the flipside, if new technologies are in the wrong hands they can also be used as a mean to abuse power.

Governments and corporations are driving the demand for water, land and organic resources of all kinds as never before. Citizens are fighting for their rights and working to preserve their livelihoods. Our study "Tricky Business" shows how the mechanisms of expropriation work. [external_media:soundcloud.com/boellstiftung/tricky-business-bollfocus]

Urvashi Butalia is one of India’s foremost feminists. On the occasion of her receiving Germany’s Goethe Medal on August 28, 2017 in Weimar, we have talked to her about her work as a publisher, feminism, writing and politics in India.

The NGO Natural Justice and its regional partners, with the support of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, have jointly assisted a number of communities to develop community protocols in the context of extractive industries. You can download them and the project report here.

"One Cube" Three, yet one! - is a documentary film by Pramod Dev. Depicting three women who work in export-oriented sectors of India's economy, the film shows how the demands of trade impact upon the personal, familial, social, economic and cultural aspects of the lives of the protagonists.

India likes to consider itself the “world’s largest democracy”. In practice, however, there are many restrictions on the freedom of expression. The space available to civil society organizations for action is increasingly restricted.

Amitav Ghosh’s new book “The Great Derangement” examines climate change and climate policy from unusual perspectives. It is bound to get much international attention because it asks some fundamental new questions concerning the handling of climate change in literature and activist politics, and because it represents a well-known voice from Asia.

After the UK vote for leaving the European Union, India, with historically close ties to Britain has to reassess its relations with both sides. A weakening of either the EU or the UK is against India's interests, which could lead to a revivification of the Commonwealth and to new multilateral free trade areas.

The recent and resounding electoral victory of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Assam, the largest of India’s North-Eastern States, carries particular importance. The journalist Ash Narain Roy, director of the Institute for Social Sciences gives a comprehensive report on the BJP victory in Assam.

Nichlagarh, an adivasi village in the forest region of Southern Rajasthan, is caught between the bureaucratic regime of the Forestry Department (FD) of India and progressive legislation that claims to restore the traditional rights of commoners.

As a result of the climate change India and South Asia will likely have a huge economic, social, and environmental damage. Therefore climate solutions must be considered in national climate policy.

Coal is an important part of India’s energy mix. Local production is not enough: strong demand is attracting imports from Australia and elsewhere. However, India has huge potential for renewable energy.

Ranjana Kumari is a veteran Indian feminist who has been following the International Women’s Conferences since Nairobi in 1985. We talked with her about women’s rights and gender equity in India.

The New Delhi Office focus is on ecology, democracy and international relations.

Declining sex ratios due to decades of discrimination against women in certain parts of India have left many men unmarried. An interview about cross-regional marriage migration with Ravinder Kaur.

Newly elected Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi used the margins of the U.N. General Assembly in September to make his first official visit to the United States. On January 26, US President Barack Obama will visit India.

Since May this year, when I started writing this blog, I have started appreciating the strength of Indian democracy. As I followed the unraveling of the national elections, and thereafter the elections in various states of our country, I became acutely aware of the power of Indian voters and their ability to choose their own destiny in a peaceful and democratic manner.