Opinion

Melvin Durai It has been almost two years since Abubakar Tahiru, a Ghanaian forestry student, set a Guinness World Record for most trees hugged in an hour, and I have to admit that I have not hugged a single tree. I have admired many trees...

Michael Froman One issue dominated this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos: President Donald Trump’s threats to gain US control of Greenland. The announcement of a skeletal agreement between President Trump and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte was good news – even if it turns out...

By Santosh Kumar Mohapatra Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has made history by presenting her ninth consecutive Union Budget, drawing close to the record of ten Budgets presented by former Prime Minister Morarji Desai over different periods. While presenting the Budget, the Finance Minister outlined...

By Indira Hirway An important observation about the presentation of the Budget by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is that the speech was just too long and unilluminating, making it come across as a rather tired effort. The speech, despite its length, did not dive into...

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s 86-minute Budget speech for 2026–27 tried to project reform and restraint. The markets saw something else. Within hours, Dalal Street delivered its verdict. The Sensex and Nifty slid after the government raised the Securities Transaction Tax (STT) on derivatives, chilling trading...

Ajit Ranade India’s macro backdrop today looks unusually reassuring. Quarterly real growth has been firm, inflation is low, banks are reporting strong profits with low NPAs, and corporate balance sheets look healthier after years of deleveraging. That surface calm, however, is precisely why the Union...

By Piotr Opali ski Relations between Pakistan and Taliban-ruled Afghanistan are currently among the most unstable elements of South Asia’s security architecture. Increasing border incidents, escalating political tensions, and growing activity of extremist groups indicate that the Islamabad-Kabul conflict has transcended the framework of incidental...

By Lekha Rattanani A sudden death of a top politician in an air crash naturally causes deep distress and brings big uncertainties in the political arena, particularly when the politician is in the saddle but placed uncomfortably in a difficult political alliance in a key...

By Antarjeeta Nayak and Ramakrishna Biswal Every February, the Union Budget acts as a national reflection. Ministries examine it for approval, sectors look to it for support, and citizens search for hope in the details. Departments like railways, agriculture, and education receive specific budget allocations,...

By JP Singh Among the more remarkable features of US President Donald Trump’s meandering speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos was his invocation of the cultural bonds that made the West so prosperous. But Trump obviously did not believe a word he said...