Courses I’ve taught‍

Stream: Economics, Syllabus: Introduction to water economics: water availability and water use, sectoral demand for water, physical vs. economic scarcity of water; Rights to access to water: types of water rights, customs and traditions in water rights; Water pricing: concepts of average and marginal cost pricing, flat rate, uniform rate, increasing block tariff and seasonal rate models; Formal and informal water markets: urban, rural and peri urban linkages; Water and the environment: use and non-use value of water, non-revenue waters (NRW), unaccounted for water (UFW), market failure and externality; Water governance: water policies and water acts, water regulatory authorities, water disputes management, and global water diplomacy

Stream: Economics, Globalization and sustainable development: terms, concepts and challenges, inter-generational and intra-generational effects, human development, indigenous knowledge, governance and sustainable development; Climate change as a challenge to sustainable development: interrelationship between climate change and economic development, impact of climate change on natural resources and livelihood; Mitigation and adaptation to climate change: role of State, civil society, firms, corporate social responsibility, international environmental agreements and climate change.

Stream: Economics, Syllabus: Early trade theories: absolute advantage, comparative advantage; Terms of trade: offer curves, gains from trade, Factor endowment and Heckscher-Ohlin model; Balance of payments: current account, capital account, balance of trade; International monetary system: IMF, World Bank; Exchange rate volatility: fixed exchange rate, floating exchange rate; Multilateral trade agreements: GATT, UNCTAD, WTO.

Pre-Analytic Vision: history of ecological economics, difference between neoclassical and ecological economics, societal challenges and paradigm shift; Ecological systems: resource of nature and nature of resources, current status of resources and systems thinking ; Human subsystem: Human behavior and its relevance to resource allocation; Principles and policy: principles of ecological economics, alternative policies, institutions, and instruments to implement ecological economics principles

Introduction to Transboundary waters: water as an international issue, thewater war debate, asymmetric endowment; Conflict, Cooperation and Power: coexisting conflict and cooperation, issue of sovereignty, riparian position and externalities, soft and hard power, power asymmetry and hydro hegemon, confronting power; Analyzing Transboundary Water Interaction: the framework of hydro hegemony, TWINS framework, principles of benefit sharing; International Water Laws: concept and evolution, absolute territorial theories and limited territorial sovereignty, UN convention on transboundary waters, role of treaties, bilateral vs. multilateral treaties; Water diplomacy: multi-track water diplomacy, platforms for dialogues and negotiations; Case Studies of Transboundary Water Management Initiatives: the case of Nile, Senegal, Indus, Ganges,Jordan and Mekong River Basin.

Stream: Economics, Syllabus: Introduction to climate change; Climate models and climate change debate; Economic growth, wellbeing and sustainability: Impact, Population, Affluence and Technology (IPAT) model, ecological footprint, green GDP; Climate change equity: economics, discounting, intergenerational equity, intra‐generational equity and development rights; Concepts of adaptation and mitigation; Mitigation mechanisms: carbon trading versus carbon taxes, Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD), Joint Implementation (JI) and voluntary markets; Costs of climate change and benefits of mitigation; Consensus on Climate Change: United Nations Framework Convention (UNFCC), Kyoto Protocol, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and other international agreements

Stream: Disaster Management, Syllabus: Impact of disaster on socio-economic aspects of a place; disaster and development; role of governance in disaster management; five year plans and disaster management; direct and indirect costs, output and welfare losses, benefits of disaster risk reduction, challenges of making economic assessments, Gender and disaster; Community-hazard profiles in India; Different phases of Disaster Management; Relief mechanism.; Roles of NDMA, SDMA; Objectives, provisions and recommendations of DM Act 2005 and NPDM 2009.

Political Economy of Transboundary Waters: Food, energy, water and livelihood security asymmetric endowment and asymmetric power, hegemony and critical hydro politics, dynamics of sovereignty, cooperation, continuum and conflict conflagration, principles of benefit sharing; Hydro Diplomacy and Negotiations: Public and popular, bilateral vs. multilateral, two track vs. multi-track, cross-border civil society networking; International Water Law and Transboundary Institutions: Concepts, evolution and development of international water law, international treaties and conventions, water law regime; Trans-boundary River Management in South Asia; Conflict and cooperation, environmental, socio-economic and geo-political issues, basin approach and augmentation Issues.

From Millennium Development Goals to Sustainable Development Goals: scale, scope and interrelationship of SDGs, and Agenda 2030; Realizing the SDGs: ‘degrowth’, circular economy, inclusive society, sustainable cities, transport, digital revolution, innovation and infrastructure, goal based business models, sustainable designs, technology, renewable energy, sustainable production and consumption; Financing the SDGs: types of financing, new financing mechanisms and global funds; Implementing SDGs: governance and policy tools such as openness, participation, accountability, effectiveness and coherence; OECD’s framework for policy coherence for sustainable development

Integrated Water Management & Policy| To introduce students to the broader dimensions of water management beyond technical interventions, incorporating social, cultural, economic, and policy aspects. To develop an understanding of the principles and evolution of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in India and globally. To explore institutional frameworks, stakeholder engagement, and participatory approaches in managing water resources. To critically analyze water-related conflicts, governance structures, and emerging tools and technologies in water policy and planning.

Climate Change: Economics, Politics & Global Governance| Understand climate change through economic and political economy lenses · Critically evaluate global climate governance institutions and agreements · Analyse climate policy trade-offs involving growth, equity, and justice · Apply concepts to real-world cases from India and South Asia