Opinion

The World Bank classifies India as a lower-middle-income (LMI) economy rather than a ‘weak country,’ a status it has maintained since 2009. In other words, the WB has not revised India’s actual socio-economic status for the last 17 years. This has caused a dichotomy. In...

Just as French aristocrats under the ancienrégime could hardly imagine the abolition of their noble titles, most of today's university leaders cannot conceive of a world in which the degrees they confer become worthless pieces of paper. The former were in for a rude awakening...

By Bruhaspati Samal There are moments in history when silence becomes louder than slogans, when folded hands become heavier than raised fists, and when the greatest tragedy is not oppression itself but the willingness of the oppressed to live comfortably beneath it. Every civilisation has...

By Sagari Gupta Odisha has entered a new phase of industrial development. The state’s policy debate is no longer centred on whether investors are willing to come. Recent official data suggests that investor interest is strong. The more important question is whether approved projects are...

By Santosh Kumar Mohapatra Few words in contemporary politics are abused as casually as the term ‘Leftist.’ It has become a convenient political weapon, used to silence rather than to debate. Today, anyone who questions the government, criticizes the concentration of wealth, exposes corporate excesses,...

By Kevin Hyland & Robert D. Marin In 2016, then-Prime Minister Theresa May marked the first anniversary of the United Kingdom’s Modern Slavery Act with a commentary touting how our research in the UK and Romania had helped uncover “criminal gangs creating twinned towns of...

In the quiet, rhythmic clatter of a rural weaving hamlet in Odisha, time is measured not by the tick of a clock, but by the slow, deliberate intersection of warp and weft. Here, a textile like the Khandua Patta is never merely a piece of...

One major lesson from the political catastrophes of the 20th century appears paradoxical: Democracies sometimes must pursue seemingly undemocratic measures against those who would cynically exploit the system to gain power and then abolish democracy altogether. The problem, of course, is that such measures invite...

The past four months have demonstrated just how volatile oil markets can be. In March, Brent crude climbed above $100 a barrel for the first time in four years, reaching $119 on March 9—its highest level since the 2022 energy crisis—as Iran's closure of the...

Melvin Durai Among the many commendable ways to conserve energy during hot weather, I’d like to applaud Japan’s latest initiative: allowing government workers to wear shorts in the office. I love shorts. Just ask my wife, and she’ll tell you that shorts are my preferred...