Opinion

Exploring nature's wonders and warnings in Ranjit Lal's latest book

Filled with data, insights, and anecdotes, and accompanied by colourful illustrations, Ranjit Lal shines a light on how endangered nature is

The end of opus DEI: US corporations adapt to new political climate

The US template for affirmative action, from primary education upwards, offered an inspiring and workable model for countries such as India

Global tax evasion fight: Why MNCs, HNIs still outsmart regulations

Multinationals and high-net-worth individuals (HNIs) dodge taxes in a variety of ways. The most common way for multinationals is through the transfer pricing mechanism

Railways' new safety steps: Smart planning or knee-jerk reaction?

Train-related information must be communicated clearly at the railway stations. At large stations, such as New Delhi Railway Station, more digital screens displaying arrivals and departures are needed

Lessons from the dotcom bubble burst still relevant in AI age 25 yrs later

India's tech economy matured during the boom-bust cycle with investors waking up to India's advantages in providing information-technology (IT) services to the world

Best of BS Opinion: Bold strokes, fading truths, and unfinished lines

Here are the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today

Streaming's rush for reach: Platforms tap smaller cities with mass content

India had 125 million OTT subscribers in 2024, that amounts to a reach of about 375 million viewers

Improving competitiveness: MSP benefits continue to remain concentrated

What India needs is to incentivise private procurement, promote crop diversification, and focus on agricultural research

Deflated dreams: China bets on technology to avoid economic slowdown

Analysts are already beginning to discuss the possible "Japanification" of China, referencing the long, deflationary stagnation that plagued Japanese economy after its boom years ended in early 1990s

Waiting for better statistics: GDP data revisions highlight deeper issues

Statisticians across the spectrum welcomed this decision, though questions remained about why the timeline for releasing a given year's GDP data and the number of revisions couldn't be reduced further

Bofors Gate: Chitra Subramaniam's book deep-dives into the arms scandal

A household name for her investigation into the Bofors scandal, Chitra Subramaniam's book offers an unsparing account of the defence deal, even as it examines her own motivation

Deregulation Commission for India's growth: An idea whose time has come

But it will work only if it has both central & state-based regulations within its remit with active participation by all states

Gautam Bhatia's book offers a refreshing critique of India's Constitution

The basic dichotomy Dr Bhatia addresses is between the Constitution and courtrooms as sources of progressive and transformative social change and the Constitution as a statement of power

How AI-driven technology can boost accuracy in inflation forecasting

The integration of AI in economic forecasting, specifically inflation prediction, is a burgeoning field that leverages advancements in ML and natural language processing

Best of BS Opinion: When everything is on the verge of boiling over

Here are the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today

Policy choices that deepened the slowdown demand urgent course correction

What's troubling is that this slowdown is unfolding despite a broadly stable global economy-no financial crisis, no commodity shock

Codifying citizens' role in lawmaking for more accountable legislation

In a democracy, citizens hold the highest office, vested with significant rights and responsibilities

India's obesity crisis: Reorienting food policies can address the problem

Growing prosperity, urbanisation, and sedentary lifestyles are out of sync with Indian cuisine, undoubtedly among the world's most delicious but traditionally suited for manual work

Recession risk: Rising uncertainty casts a shadow over US economic outlook

The New York Federal Reserve runs a "recession probability gauge", which serves to aggregate predictions of recessions. This index has hit its third-highest peak in decades for August 2025

Best of BS Opinion: Transparency is key to both democracy and global ties

Openness, reliability, and hope are critical to successful democracies and have a cumulative effect on both domestic and global ties