The Forest Conservation Act conserves less forest?! + A governance innovation challenge!
Policy Post #135
Editor’s Note ✍️
Hello there, hope you’re well :) This is our last edition of The Policy Post for 2023, as our team will be on a break from scheduled programming for the coming few days for the New Year’s break. We’ve noticed a noticeable spike in people applying to policy schools this year, especially recently as most universities have deadlines sometime in December. In parallel, a lot of members of our community are either applying to fellowships (like LAMP, for example) or have secured new roles due to begin in January!
Just a kind reminder that our website (publicpolicyindia.com) hosts a ton of career resources and databases around lists of policy schools, scholarships, fellowships, organisations hiring in this space etc. for those looking to embark on similar journeys :)
In this edition of the Policy Post, we bring to you highlights of a fascinating Governance Innovation challenge, organised by Samagra in partnership with the Odisha government which witnessed teams from the top universities across India participating to solve some of our most complex governance challenges! Finally, alongside our usual curation of career resources, opportunities and PolicyGrams, we also highlight a virtual fireside chat being organised by CCS on India’s path to prosperity on the 19th that you could consider registering for.
Take care, see you in ‘24 :)
With that, we bring to you: Policy Post #135!
- Team PPI
This Week’s Policy Focus 🔎
The Forest Conservation Amendment Bill recently joined the list of controversial, yet barely debated bills/amendments passed by the parliament with real-world consequences for a critical area of governance.
Policy Charcha 💬
The best Podcasts, Videos, Essays and Fellowships from the world of Policy and Governance for this past week!
🎥 Video: How megacities around the world are tackling their air pollution
📝 Op-Ed: What elite critics of freebies don’t understand
📚 Weekly Highlight: Janaagraha’s Annual Survey of India’s City-Systems
🔎 Databases and Guides: Click Here!
Research Hub🖋️
Women in India’s Startup Ecosystem Report (WISER)
👉🏽 A report on successful practices and data on the status of women in Indian startups + actionable insights on how to empower startups to advance gender diversity.
Event Spotlight✨
Fireside Chat by Centre for Civil Society
👉🏽Join Dr. Parth J. Shah (Founder President of the Centre for Civil Society and Co-Founder of ISPP) & Dr Dhiraj Nayyar (Director of Economics and Policy and Senior VP at Vedanta).
👉🏽This engaging discussion will revolve around the key themes presented in the ‘Freedom and Prosperity Equation’ book, with a special focus on the insightful CCS essay featured in the book titled "Understanding India’s Freedoms on the Path to Prosperity."
🕰️ 19th December, 2023 | 5:00 PM
📍Virtual
Event Highlights👀
The Governance Challenge 2023 by Govt. of Odisha & Samagra
The Governance Challenge (TGC), India's first governance case competition for the top 30 business and public policy colleges, provides states with a unique opportunity to solicit innovative ideas from talented youth. In collaboration with the Govt. of Odisha, Samagra, a mission-driven governance consulting firm, organised the second edition, which concluded in Bhubaneshwar this week. This year’s theme was 'Women Empowerment,' with the problem statement - 'How can the Govt. of Odisha ensure that it achieves its targets on SDG-5 (Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls) by 2030?'.
PPI brings you the highlights of the Summit Round of TGC 2023 from Odisha:
Preceding the Summit (Final) Round, the 6 finalist teams underwent a two-day Governance Immersion Visit to understand the on-ground realities of policymaking and implementation. They engaged with govt. officials and beneficiaries refined their solutions, some of which may potentially be piloted.
IIM Bangalore clinched the top spot, with XIM Bhubaneswar and FMS, University of Delhi as First and Second Runners-up, respectively. The top 3 teams received cash prizes worth Rs 9 lakhs and pre-placement interview opportunities from Samagra.
Odisha's Hon'ble CM, Shri Naveen Patnaik, spoke about the current women empowerment initiatives in Odisha, interacted and engaged with the teams and their solutions. The teams also gained insight into the state’s vision through interaction with Shri. V.K. Pandian, Chairman 5T & Nabin Odisha.
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Let’s Talk About Health 🌱
Suicide prevention: Why it’s critical
(Image Credits: silentgunman / 123RF Stock Photo)
Careers Corner 💼
A curated list of some of the best jobs and internship opportunities this week from the world of public policy, the development sector, impact consulting and communications at large.
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