Op-Eds

Volatility in West Asia has disrupted LPG supply chains, exposing an unresolved vulnerability. Rising prices are forcing vulnerable households back to firewood, crop residue and dung cakes A woman in rural India who received an LPG connection under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana also received a promise of smoke-free cooking, better health and dignity. A...   Read More

As the debate over the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Neet) continues, the government’s decision to shift the undergraduate medical entrance examination to a computer-based format from 2027, replacing the current pen-and-paper mode, marks a significant reform. The move seeks to strengthen security, enhance transparency, and restore public confidence in the wake of the paper...   Read More

As the country enters an era of unprecedented infrastructure expansion and climate uncertainty, the real measure of success will not be how many trees are planted. India’s journey towards becoming a developed nation by 2047 will require unprecedented investments in highways, railways, renewable energy, irrigation systems, industrial corridors and urban infrastructure. These investments are indispensable...   Read More

While lithium-ion batteries have enabled the expansion of renewable energy storage so far, these are now confronting physical and chemical barriers. In this post, Mitra and Pohit put forth that the clean energy sector has successfully transitioned to a multi-chemistry ecosystem that leverages both physical materials and artificial intelligence. They highlight the opportunity that this...   Read More

Gallium and germanium may never command the political attention accorded to oil or lithium. Yet they are indispensable to the industries that will define future economic competitiveness Empires were once forged in iron, fuelled by coal, and secured by oil. Today, strategic power increasingly rests on materials so obscure that few outside scientific circles can...   Read More

Discussions of population devolve into debates about childbearing and ultimately centre on women’s bodies. Modern global discourse emphasises a return to traditional ways of life Visions of population explosion or implosion seem to provoke strong passions. Three centuries ago, Malthus argued that population growth would outpace the food supply, leading to famine and disease. Today,...   Read More

Once among India’s foremost manufacturing and trading centres, the eastern state of West Bengal gradually ceded ground to western and southern states such as Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu. In this post, Bandyopadhyay contends that the emergence of a new connectivity-driven growth architecture stretching across eastern India, Bangladesh, and the Bay of Bengal region, opens...   Read More

‘Transparency is the cheapest credit enhancement a poor country can buy’ Restructuring gets the summits; debt management gets the training workshops. Yet in a low-income country, the debt office is crisis-prevention and early-warning infrastructure, not a narrow technical function – and a fundamental institutional reform is overdue. All four G20 Common Framework applicants (Chad, Ethiopia,...   Read More

Across India, conversations around Artificial Intelligence (AI) are steadily moving beyond innovation labs and corporate boardrooms into the domain of governance. The larger question is no longer whether governments will adopt AI, but whether these systems can genuinely improve public services in ways that are accessible, accountable, and inclusive. It is within the broader shift...   Read More

In O. Henry’s The Last Leaf, ailing Johnsy clings to life because one painted leaf refuses to fall. Such is the power of optimism; it does not need to be certain to be effective. But for Bengal, the question is whether the leaf will hold long enough for a real spring to arrive. Inherited with...   Read More