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From Human Capability to National Capability: Rethinking India's Development Conversation

The Shifting Development Conversation The economic reforms of 1991 marked one of the most consequential turning points in independent India's development journey. By dismantling much of the country's tightly controlled economic regime, opening previously protected sectors to greater private participation and foreign investment, integrating more closely with the global economy, and seeking to accelerate growth, employment, and foreign exchange earnings - the reforms fundamentally reshaped India's economic trajectory. The three and a half decades that have followed witnessed not only remarkable economic transformation but also a fascinating evolution in the country's development conversation. As India's economy expanded and markets opened, each decade seemed to produce its own defining question — not because the previous questions had been answered completely, but because the country's principal constraints have kept changing. Amartya Sen and the Capability Turn I...
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From Broadband to National Capability: A New Architecture for Telecom, Satellite, and Digital Infrastructure

Introduction: Communications as Foundational Public Infrastructure India's digital transformation has, over the past decade, been one of the defining stories of its economic development. Affordable mobile data, rapid 4G and 5G deployment, the expansion of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), and ambitious government initiatives have connected hundreds of millions of citizens to the digital economy. At the same time, India's communications landscape is undergoing another major transition. Artificial intelligence, cloud computing, edge computing, industrial automation, satellite communications, digital governance, and the anticipated emergence of 6G are steadily redefining what communications infrastructure is expected to deliver. One of the most important contributors to this transformation has been BharatNet , the Government of India's flagship optical fibre programme designed to extend high-speed broadband connectivity to Gram Panchayats across the country. Over the years,...
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