BUSINESS

Procurement policies, often designed with transparency and cost-efficiency in mind, have long had unintended consequences for research and development. While preventing fraud, these frameworks frequently kill innovation, one process at a time, by prioritising procedural compliance over scientific needs. India’s recent reforms to its General Financial Rules (GFR) — particularly exemptions from the Government e-Marketplace … Read more

The shooting of Charlie Kirk, a controversial, outspoken conservative commentator and political ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, has revealed, once again, the depth of polarisation of opinion in the country and its disturbing proclivity towards using lethal violence to settle debates. Ironically, Mr. Kirk was a vocal advocate of the Second Amendment right to … Read more

The article, “A project of a strategic and national importance”, by the Union Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav, published on September 12, 2025 merits a response even as the debate continues on the ecological devastation that the Great Nicobar mega infrastructure project will cause. First, the environmental impact assessment conducted was … Read more

Sports, like war, can be a continuation of politics by other means, but it always makes sense to question all the forms and avatars of politics. The India-Pakistan Asia Cup match on September 14 was preceded by demands that it be suspended. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray called it an “insult to national sentiment” … Read more

‘If India is serious about closing its gender gap at scale, gender-disaggregated data must become universal and normative’ | Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto Women contribute just 18% to India’s GDP today, but continuing with business-as-usual means that trillions of dollars will be left on the table. India’s aspiration to become a $30 trillion economy by … Read more

The U.S. has to decide first where they see India fit into their scheme of things, says T.S. Tirumurti, India’s former Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the U.N., New York. In an interview with The Hindu, Mr. Tirumurti spoke about the foreign policy challenges and opportunities India is facing in an uncertain world, including its … Read more

Based on the University Grants Commission’s recommendations, the Ministry of Education has handed over twelve letters of intent to top foreign universities to establish their campuses in India during the last year.  One U.K. university campus has already opened its doors in Gurugram, launching its academic programmes for the 2025-26 academic session, with the remaining … Read more

When the matinee idol of the Telugu film industry, Konidela Pawan Kalyan — fondly called PK — launched his political party, Jana Sena Party (JSP), in March 2014, political pundits had written him off as a ‘political novice.’ They even went so far as to claim that he, like his elder brother K. Chiranjeevi, would … Read more

An article, in Foreign Affairs, titled “India’s Great Power Delusions – How New Delhi’s Grand Strategy Thwarts Its Grand Ambitions” (July/August 2025), is creating a storm in the proverbial tea cup. The article’s key point is that India had ‘delusions’ of grandeur, and about becoming a Great Power, and that this lacked substance. More to … Read more

Neither the government nor the RBI will likely be alarmed by the rise in retail inflation in August 2025, even though it snapped a nine-month streak of declining inflation rates. At 2.1%, it is just marginally within the RBI’s comfort band of 2%-6%, with no real macroeconomic risk. The government would be glad to see … Read more