In memory of Dr.C.V.Seshadri, a maverick scientist and a social change agent, it is suggested that a new model for sustainable livelihoods is followed. The ex-ante and ex-post transaction costs of innovators, investors and entrepreneurs will have to be reduced if the new paradigm has to work....

The institutional pathways through which grassroots struggles and initiatives can not only be articulated but also nurtured are crucial for inclusive development. It has been noted earlier that to institutionalize even a small change, multiple interventions are required at different levels and...

It is ironic that while searching for models that promote excellence, we have not made the outstanding teachers and researchers the hub of future reforms. The fact that in any field of social investigation or higher education, the top few ranks are always occupied by public institutions has not...

India has used science and technology for social development right from the beginning of planned development. The first time when television programmes were beamed through satellite, it was for education and not just entertainment. No other country perhaps began the satellite-based transmission...

There is a huge crisis for water all around the world, certainly in India with groundwater table going down and drinking water selling almost at the rate of toned milk. Who would have imagined two decades ago that a very large number of people in the country would be paying about Rs.15 a litre...

The food and beverages industry has not yet established strong and vibrant linkages with the local communities to develop value added products and share the benefits. The paper lists seven models for building such linkages. The models range from mass sourcing the ideas and rewarding the selected...

Externalities can be internalized through market mechanism, government regulation, or self-governing institutions or a mix of these institutions. We recommend the institutional route which minimizes total cost (sum of technology, management, and transaction costs) to the firm. These costs are...

The subject of this case study is the role of intellectual property rights in the benefit-sharing arrangements surrounding the work of the Bio-resources Development and Conservation Programme (BDCP) as a part of the International Cooperative Biodiversity Group (ICBG) in the field of traditional...

One would expect, that a large number of innovations linked to cycle, a common person’s means of transport, would be of great interest to the cycle industry. But, if the leaders of cycle industry do not evince much interest, there must be some serious reasons. It seems that if a company can...

The debate on protection of intellectual property rights of the companies and scientific labs developing technologies through biotechnological means or otherwise has been highly surcharged with the emotions. I have argued in this paper that developing countries like India should negotiate this...