Blogs

Two decades of reporting, regulatory reviews, and worker advocacy reveal how employer-tied work visas and layered staffing arrangements have left many skilled migrants legally authorised to work abroad, yet economically insecure—raising shared questions of accountability for both India and the United States. For many Indian families, skilled migration represents opportunity—better pay, global exposure, and long-term…

The Uttar Pradesh Budget 2026–27 marks a decisive shift in the state’s economic strategy. The Budget numbers underline its transition towards an investment-led, production-oriented growth model. The total budget size has been placed at around Rs 9.12 lakh crore, reflecting a significant expansion in fiscal capacity, while nearly 19–20% of the budget is allocated to…

As we readied to sail to Dar es Salam the capital of Tanzania from Mombasa, my biggest take was the significantly large and powerful presence of the Gujrati community there. Since those were Navratri days we were invited to attend a ‘Dandia dance’ function in the evening where I was delightfully surprised to see that…

Early 2026 has made one thing unmistakably clear: markets are no longer reacting to economic surprises alone. They are pricing institutional uncertainty in real time. US equity benchmarks logged one of their most bruising sessions in recent memory as renewed geopolitical risks and tariff anxieties rippled through risk assets. While safe-haven inflows lifted gold and…

Like many of you who may have paused to read this, I have long had a deep affection for Uttarakhand, stretching back several decades. Even though I am not a native of the Himalayan state, I have been a regular visitor since the mid-1990s when Uttarakhand was yet to be formally created, and was referred…

People in Bangladesh are voting today, and they actually have to vote twice. First, they will choose their new parliament. Second, they will vote in a referendum on a long list of changes the government wants to make. This is strange because a referendum is usually about one big question, not many different ones. When…

Imagine you’re at a shop buying a chocolate bar. The price tag says $1, but when you get to the counter, the cashier charges you $5 because they claim you used a “premium napkin” and “special air” while standing in the aisle. That’s essentially what is happening in many of India’s private hospitals today. Here…

Bangladesh polls include a referendum. Not a good idea, there or anywhere else People of Bangladesh will cast two votes today. One to elect their parliament, the other to agree or disagree with a long list of ‘reforms’ in a referendum. That’s odd because a referendum usually seeks a yes/no response to one important question….

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Back when we were in school, it was a tradition to offer something to the teacher every day. So, whatever sweets were prepared at home, we would share them with her. She lived alone, so she wouldn’t be able to eat much of it. So, she would store everything fresh…

If modern India had a corporate slogan, it would be – Benchmarking Globally, Tolerating Locally. Our GDP growth is benchmarked against China, digital payments compared to Scandinavia, and startup ecosystems pitched against Silicon Valley. Boardrooms are filled with slides, OECD tables, McKinsey quadrants, and World Bank indices, assembled to demonstrate how viksit we have become….