Opinion

For five centuries, raw materials have flowed out of Africa and Brazil at low cost to be used as inputs elsewhere—often returning to their source countries embedded in expensive finished goods. The energy transition offers a critical opportunity to escape this extractive dynamic. The key...

India’s ethanol policy has become a classic case of solving one problem by creating several others. A programme designed to reduce oil imports has expanded into sugar, rice, maize, water, food stocks and even livestock-feed policy. The question is no longer whether ethanol can be...

By Bhaskar Nath Biswal The Modi government’s decision to send one Union Minister to one university every day, under what is being called the One Day, One University programme, is being pitched as a major outreach to India’s Gen Z. With over 1,300 universities in...

By Dhurjati Mukherjee The Cockroach Janata Party’s launching of “School Thik Karo” campaign with an aim to improve condition of government schools in rural areas across the country, is refreshing. Imagine the state of education which has its share in the Union budget having declined...

By Djoomart Otorbaev For a major infrastructure project to succeed, it must be underpinned by sustained political support and sound economics. When political and strategic considerations are allowed to dominate decision-making, and long-term economic assessments suffer as a result, projects can fail before they start....

By Gabriela Ramos Last month, China announced the creation of the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organisation, a 38-country platform focused on AI cooperation, bridging the AI divide by supporting innovation and deployment in developing countries. WAICO marks a turning point, but not the one the...

By Bruhaspati Samal A government's priorities are often revealed by the contrast in its treatment of different sections of society. Two recent Parliamentary replies by the Minister of State for Finance present precisely such a contrast. Nearly 10 lakh crore in corporate loans have been...

Bhabani Shankar Nayak   WilliamShakespeare’spastoral comedy As You Like It—specifically Jaques’ melancholic monologue in Act II, Scene VII, which con ceptualises the seven stages of human life—defines the realities of world with the following famous lines: “All the world’s a stage, And all the men...

Ashish Kumar Meher India’s 176th rank among 177 countries in the recently published 2026 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) is not merely an unfavourable international comparison. It is a warning that environmental governance is lagging behind the country’s economic ambitions. India scored 22.46 out of 100,...

Jan-Werner Mueller Here in the Albanian capital, the hotel receptionists go out of their way to stress that the ongoing protests outside are entirely peaceful. Apparently, there have been quite a few room cancellations since mass demonstrations began in the spring. But ask them directly,...