Opinion

By While Rome Burns Between June 20 and 28, a powerful heatwave hit Europe, creating the conditions that have fuelled the wildfires now raging across large swathes of France and Spain. Soon after the June heatwave, city officials in Rome announced a new, scientifically informed...

By Purna Chandra Jena Odisha has achieved a remarkable statistical milestone that would challenge most large states. NITI Aayog's Fiscal Health Index has ranked it number one among 18 major states in both editions published to date, with its score increasing from 67.8 in 2025...

Jayati Ghosh   This week, delegates from around the world will gather in New York to negotiate the proposed United Nations Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation, a landmark agreement aimed at making global tax cooperation more inclusive and effective. If adopted, the Convention would...

Melvin Durai   When it comes to exercise, almost everyone falls into one of three categories: (1) those who exercise five to seven days per week; (2) those who exercise two to four days per week; and (3) those who exercise only in their dreams....

Ajit Ranade The student protests that dominated the headlines were triggered by an examination paper leak. But it would be a mistake to view them only as a protest against the mismanagement of examinations. The leak touched a much deeper anxiety. For millions of young...

Satish Singh India’s banking system is seeing notable credit growth, with the Reserve Bank of India reporting an 18.6% year-on-year increase in bank credit by June 30, 2026, up from 9.5% the previous year. Deposit growth rose from 10.1% to 13.3%, but the gap between...

When NITI Aayog released the country’s first-ever Investment Friendliness Index (IFI) on 17 July, the headlines went to the large states — Gujarat at the summit with 56.6, followed by Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. But tucked into the city-states and Union Territories category was a...

In the lexicon of development, few words sound as reassuring as “graduation,” which suggests progress past critical milestones and an escape from dependency. In global health, however, graduation increasingly creates a trap. When a country crosses the World Bank’s threshold from low- to middle-income status,...

By Bhaskar Nath Biswal The passage of the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026, through Parliament marks a decisive attempt to confront a crisis that strikes at the core of India’s social fabric. The recent nationwide outrage following the NEET-UG 2026 paper...

Bhabani Shankar Nayak Various forms of crises, risks, and insecurities are intensifying, even as governing elites drum up patriotism, nationalism, and ethnic and religious unity to hide the failures of the ruling classes and their capitalist system with all its powers. Labour is more productive...