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1.
Foundations for our own Campus
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Recognising CUTS
contribution to economic policy discourse in India and
internationally, particularly in various parts of the
developing world, in 2013, the State Government of
Rajasthan allocated a 5,000 Sq. Mt. area of land at a
concessional rate to CUTS to build its own campus. It
is being replenished by small donations by CUTS staff,
donors and
Friends of CUTS all over the world, and thus,
creating a better ownership for the CUTS Campus. This
campus will house all head office staff and those of
three Programme Centres based in Jaipur. It will also
house the CUTS Institute for Regulation & Competition.
For contributing and becoming a Friend of CUTS,
please
click here |
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2. CUTS@30:
Better Governance for Inclusive Growth
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To
celebrate our 30th birthday CUTS has been organising a
series of public lectures, by eminent friends around
the world in cities where CUTS is well known. The
lectures are contemporary issues related to its work
agenda, such as trade, economic integration, consumer
protection, competition etc. Lectures have been/will
be organised in Kuala Lumpur, Jaipur, New Delhi,
Geneva, London, Nairobi, Accra, Washington DC, New
York, Islamabad, Kolkata, Canberra and Lusaka
respectively. The aim of the lecture series is to
address CUTS’ future interventions to promote
inclusive growth from the point of view of their
impact on consumer welfare in the light of
contemporary policy discourse on trade, regulation and
governance. CUTS aims to publish the lectures in a
volume and produce a video tape of the same, at the
mid-2014. For details, please visit:
www.cuts-international.org/30thAnniversaryLectures
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3. A Credible Southern Voice on the High Level Panel on
Defining the Future of Trade
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The Panel on ‘Defining the
Future of Trade’ constituted by Pascal Lamy, WTO
Director General in December 2013, released its Report
entitled ‘The Future of Trade: The Challenges of
Convergence (www.wto.org/english/)’,
which examined and analysed challenges faced by global
trading system in 21st century. CUTS, represented by
its Secretary General Pradeep S Mehta, was a credible
pro-trade, pro-equity Southern NGO voice on this panel
that contributed to its richness. CUTS submitted a
Discussion Paper to this Panel which can be accessed
at:
www.cuts-international.org/pdf/Defining_the_Future_of_Trade.pdf |
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4. A Indian
PAN-African NGO: CUTS@Accra
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CUTS inaugurated the Accra
Centre on August 26, 2013, under the graceful presence
of Hannah Tetteh, Honourable Minister of Foreign
Affairs & Regional Integration, Ghana. This will be
third CUTS centre in Africa after Lusaka and Nairobi
and the fifth overseas centre. This inauguration also
coincided with CUTS’ 30th Anniversary lecture in
Accra, on the topic “Regional Integration as a Tool
for Poverty Reduction in West Africa”. Through this
new centre, CUTS will continue its efforts towards
accomplishing CUTS’ vision of ‘consumer sovereignty in
the framework of social justice and economic equality
and environmental necessity, within and across
borders.’ Details can be viewed at
www.cuts-international.org/arc/accra |
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5. CLIMATE,
FOOD, TRADE: Improving Policy Coherence in East Africa
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Climate change is
affecting the lives of people around the world in an
unprecedented manner. Our project entitled, “Promoting
Agriculture-Climate-Trade linkages in the EAC” (PACT
EAC), supported by SIDA, has strived to help East
African stakeholders better understand and address the
need for coherent policies at the interplay between
climate, food and trade issues. In 2013, an impact
evaluation revealed that the project has already
influenced a number of policy responses with linkages
aspects now being reflected in the draft Kenya
Environmental Policy, the new draft Agricultural
Policy of Tanzania, and a potential review of the
genetically modified organism (GMO) policy at the Vice
Presidents’ Office in Tanzania.
www.cuts-geneva.org/pacteac |
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6.
Promoting Trade and Standardisation in Southeast Asia
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Trade and
standards are a hot topic in the global trading
system. As a partner organisation specifically for the
Southeast Asia region in the SIDA-supported “Trade
Promotion through Standardisation in the South and
Southeast Asia (SESA) regions” programme, CUTS Hanoi
helped to link the main themes of the programme, which
are standards and standardisation, to the broader
policy levels of trade promotion, consumer protection,
regional integration and sustainable development, by
engaging stakeholders – which are CUTS core
competencies. |
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7. Amongst
the Top Think-Tanks in Zambia
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CUTS
International Lusaka was identified by Zambia Economic
Advocacy Programme (ZEAP), a Department for
International Development (DFID), UK run programme as
one of the five top Think-Tanks in Zambia, using
evidence-based policy advocacy on trade and economic
issues. This has yielded support in the areas of
capacity building and research on economic policy for
CUTS International Lusaka. Going forward, this will
strengthen our ability to conduct evidence-based
policy advocacy and facilitate positive changes in
Zambia. |
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8. Towards
an Optimal Business Regulatory Framework of India
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The Planning Commission,
Government of India, for developing the 12th Plan,
formed a Steering Committee on Industry to deliberate
upon the ways and means of creating an enabling
business ecosystem in the country. As a Knowledge
Partner, CUTS convened the Working Group on Business
Regulatory Framework, while Pradeep S Mehta headed the
Task Force on National Competition Policy. CUTS
provided inputs for preparation of the strategy for
the 12th Plan to raise contribution of manufacturing
in the GDP from a current level of 15 percent to 25
percent by 2025. Furthermore, the Planning Commission
accepted the proposal to establish Better Regulatory
Commission and also use tools, such as Regulatory
Impact Assessment. One hopes that the recommendations
will become a game changer and add to the economic
growth in India. |
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9.
Enhancing Knowledge, Strengthening Capacity
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The
flagship course of CUTS Institute for Regulation &
Competition in association with National Law
University New Delhi (NLUD), diploma and certificate
course in ‘Competition Policy & Law’ has been a
popular course choice among the students. The first
convocation for the said course was held on December
21, 2013 at NLUD Campus. Another pioneering initiative
of CIRC was to launch online courses on ‘Competition
Act, 2002’and ‘Law and Practice of PPPs in India’ for
inter-disciplinary professionals and students. These
courses aim to strengthen executive education in the
areas of Competition Policy and Law, Regulatory issues
with facilitating classroom free, self-paced and
interactive learning environment.
www.circ.in |
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10. Making
Jaipur a World Class City
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CUTS intervened to improve
the services of the Jaipur Municipal Corporation by
emphasising the importance of local government and
strengthen the roots of local self-governance by
taking power to the people in the spirit of 74th
Constitutional amendment in partnership with The Asia
Foundation. The intervention could achieve several
outcomes including enhanced level of awareness and
civic sense among citizens, engagement of service
providers/elected representatives resulting in to
improved services and resolved grievances and vigilant
media. The project also built the capacity of local
community based organisations and citizen action
groups who continued working as a linkage between
citizens and service providers. Building on the
success of the phase I of the intervention, it had
moved to the second phase.
http://cuts-international.org/cart/MyCity.htm
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11.
Improved Child Protection in Chittorgarh District of Rajasthan,
India
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CUTS
Centre for Human Development is implementing a project
for excluded children and their rights in Chittorgarh
block of Rajasthan with the support of Save the
Children (India). CHD has been successful in forming
and orienting child protection committees (CPCs) at
the Gram Panchayat level (288 gram panchayats), Block
level (11 blocks) and up to the District level under
Integrated Child Protection Scheme of the Department
of Women & Child Development, Government of Rajasthan.
The Centre has been nominated as resource agency to
facilitate and provide technical support in the
formation, capacity building and monitoring of CPCs.
CUTS CHD also published a monograph entitled ‘Stronger
Voice to the Excluded Children: Stories we have lived
and learned about child rights development’ capturing
all these achievements.
http://cuts-international.org/chd/IPAP.htm |
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12.
Insights into Indian States
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Some Indian states in India are
able to achieve better public policy outcomes
manifested through better concomitant quality of
economic growth and governance while others continue
to languish. The 12th Five Year Plan only resonates
and harps on inter-state synergies to enhance the
quality of outcomes. The ‘Insight into Indian States’
(I3S) is an innovative initiative of CUTS aiming to
create a user friendly and an interactive web portal
presenting comparative and impartial view of
successful and not so successful policies and
practices across the quasi-federal structure of the
country. Comparative analysis of development
initiatives in the area of Non-farm Livelihood across
Assam, Odisha, Rajasthan and Karnataka marks the onset
of the portal. This list of states will expand just as
focus on areas like Electricity Regulation, Water
Utilities, Road Safety, Public Service Delivery and
Public Service Distribution to name just a few.
www.i3s.net.in
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Top moments from
other Centres
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