Daily Current Affairs

NEET and Beyond: A Systematic Assault on Education

By Dr. Raja
New Delhi, July 23, 2026

Education is not merely another government department. It is the foundation upon which a democratic republic builds its future. B.R. Ambedkar’s immortal call — “Educate, Agitate, Organise” — was not simply a slogan. It was a roadmap for creating an informed, empowered and egalitarian society. Over the past 12 years, however, the Modi government has moved in the opposite direction. Ever since the BJP came to power in 2014, its education policy has been driven by three interconnected objectives: The communalisation, commercialisation and centralisation of education. The result has been a systematic weakening of public education and an unprecedented crisis in examinations, recruitment and employment.

The Ministry of Education under Dharmendra Pradhan has failed to restore confidence in this system. Every fresh controversy has deepened public distrust. Thousands of students are on the streets demanding his resignation, including activists sitting on hunger strike for more than two weeks, demanding accountability.

The Systematically Weakened Pillars of Public Education

The assault began with India’s premier public universities. Jawaharlal Nehru University, the University of Hyderabad, Jamia Millia Islamia, Tata Institute of Social Sciences and several other institutions became targets of political attacks. Students and teachers questioning the government were routinely branded “anti-national”, “tukde-tukde gang” or “urban Naxals”. This was accompanied by financial pressure on public education. Universities reported shrinking grants, delays in fellowships, financial constraints and pressure to raise fees.

If the first pillar of the BJP’s education policy has been weakening public institutions, the second has been the collapse of credibility in examinations and recruitment. No institution symbolises this collapse more than the National Testing Agency (NTA). Established to bring professionalism and transparency, the NTA has instead become associated with repeated controversies, technical failures, paper leak allegations, arbitrary examination centre allotments and administrative confusion .

The Congress party has alleged that since its inception, the NTA has been plagued by at least nine instances of paper leaks, including controversies in 2024 that forced the cancellation of several examinations . Despite the recommendations of the K Radhakrishnan Committee, which submitted 101 recommendations to improve the NTA’s functioning after the 2024 controversy, the government failed to implement them seriously . The crucial post of Director General of the NTA remained under additional charge for the entire period between the 2024 and 2026 examination controversies, reflecting what critics call the government’s complacency .

The NEET Crisis: A Defining Example

The NEET crisis has become the defining example. In 2024, over 24 lakh candidates registered for the examination. Allegations of paper leaks, the controversial award of grace marks to 1,563 candidates, multiple perfect scores, nationwide protests, a CBI investigation and proceedings before the Supreme Court shattered public confidence in the examination process. Before confidence could be restored, an even bigger crisis unfolded. The NEET-UG 2026 examination, taken by around 22 lakh aspiring doctors, was cancelled after the integrity of the examination was compromised .

As Tamil Nadu’s former Chief Minister M.K. Stalin wrote in a recent op-ed, NEET was introduced with three principal promises: to reduce the burden of multiple entrance examinations, to eliminate the scourge of capitation fees and commercialisation, and to improve standards by ensuring only the most meritorious students entered medical colleges . On every count, NEET has failed. Instead of reducing inequality, it has shifted the centre of learning from schools to coaching centres, disproportionately benefiting those who can afford expensive coaching while disadvantaging rural students, government school students, first-generation learners, and those studying in State Boards .

The assumption that a single objective test measures merit better than years of consistent academic achievement is not supported by international evidence. Countries such as the U.S., Canada, Australia and Germany admit students through school performance and holistic evaluation, not through a single nationwide entrance examination . The qualifying threshold for postgraduate and super-speciality admissions has been repeatedly reduced to zero percentile and, in some cases, even negative marks, simply to fill expensive private college seats . As Stalin argues, “That is not meritocracy; it is privilege institutionalised” .

The Human Cost: Suicides, Stress, and Disappointment

Behind every cancelled examination lies an enormous human cost. Years of preparation, family savings and emotional investment disappear overnight. India has repeatedly witnessed heartbreaking reports of students dying by suicide amid examination stress and recruitment uncertainty. While every such tragedy has multiple causes, together they reflect a system that has become increasingly unforgiving and unpredictable.

Congress MP Syed Naseer Hussain, in a notice for an urgent debate in the Rajya Sabha, highlighted “at least 93 reported NEET-linked student suicides over the past five years” . The NEET-UG 2026 cancellation alone has been linked to about a dozen student suicides . Families make enormous financial and emotional sacrifices because a degree or a competitive examination is still seen as the main pathway towards a secure middle-class life. As Ashoka University visiting professor Uday Chandra noted, “That contract is now under strain” . When a public exam paper is leaked, cancelled, incorrectly graded or delayed, students now see it as a theft of time and, more importantly, of a bright future they were promised .

The “Cockroach” Movement: A Generation’s Cry for Justice

The birth of the satirical Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has channelled this deep-seated frustration into the current youth-led protests . The movement adopted its name after Supreme Court Chief Justice Surya Kant described unemployed young people as “cockroaches,” a label the youth have embraced as a form of political satire and defiance . The CJP tapped into the concerns of under-30s, who make up more than half of India’s population, and amassed millions of Instagram followers within days .

The protests have forced the government into talks and exposed deeper frustrations over the education system, jobs and fairness . As independent political researcher Asim Ali explained, “The exam leak issue has become a proxy for broader anxieties. The issue has come to represent a wider crisis of dwindling opportunities and blocked upward mobility. There is simply not enough jobs to go around” . The CJP’s demands include the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, ₹1 crore compensation for families of students who died by suicide due to the NEET paper leak, and the withdrawal of all FIRs filed against peaceful protesters . The CJP’s chief spokesperson Saurav Das has termed the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan as “non-negotiable” .

The Government’s Response: Denial, Delay, and Crackdown

The government’s response to the crisis has been widely criticised as inadequate. Despite the cancellation of NEET-UG 2026 following the reported paper leak, the NTA and the Department of Higher Education continued to deny any leak before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education . The NTA has even resorted to publicly rebutting claims of discrepancies, alleging that some OMR sheets were “digitally altered, regenerated using AI or manipulated by adding responses” by students .

The crackdown on peaceful protesters has further inflamed public anger. On July 20, as thousands of protesters attempted to march to Parliament, police used tear gas, lathi charges, and batons to disperse them, resulting in nearly 180 injuries, including 118 security personnel and 60 protesters . Video of police beating protesters with batons and dragging demonstrators away spread quickly on social media, fueling public outrage . Footage showed young protesters crying and pleading with officers not to hit them . As one 20-year-old student protester stated, “If the government thinks that doing this with Gen Z, they can stop us, then that won’t happen” .

Rights group Amnesty International condemned the police action, stating it showed “how peaceful dissent is being suppressed in India” . The Opposition, including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, has termed the crackdown “unprecedented brutality” . Prime Minister Modi has now promised fast-track courts to punish those involved in paper leaks, stating that “nothing is more important than the welfare and future of our youth” . However, the government has not conceded to the demand for Pradhan’s resignation, as doing so would be a politically costly admission of failure .

Conclusion

Pradhan bears ministerial responsibility for the repeated breakdown of India’s examination system. The scale of the NEET and NTA crises alone warrants his resignation. The student protests must serve as a wake-up call, not merely to improve exam security, but to fundamentally rethink the entire framework of high-stakes national entrance examinations . India does not need greater centralisation; it needs greater trust in its States, its schools and its students . The future of medical education and the aspirations of millions of young Indians deserve a fairer, more humane and more federal approach. NEET has failed its own promises. It is time to trust the States again .

Q&A Section

1. What is the NEET-UG 2026 controversy about and why has it sparked nationwide protests?

The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) is India’s sole gateway to undergraduate medical courses. In 2026, the exam was cancelled after its question papers were leaked, affecting about 2 million students. This incident followed similar paper leaks in 2024 and other examination irregularities, shattering public confidence. The protests have evolved into a broader movement against a broken education system, high youth unemployment, and a lack of accountability from the government.

2. Who is the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and what are its demands?

The CJP began as a satirical online movement after a Supreme Court judge described India’s unemployed youth as “cockroaches.” It has become the centre of one of the country’s biggest youth-led protest movements. The CJP’s demands include the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, ₹1 crore compensation for families of students who died by suicide linked to the NEET leak, and the withdrawal of FIRs filed against peaceful protesters. They have termed the demand for Pradhan’s resignation as “non-negotiable” .

3. What is the government’s position on the NEET paper leak and the protests?

The government, led by PM Modi, has promised “strict action” and fast-track courts to punish those involved in paper leaks. PM Modi has stated that those who compromise the future of the youth “will not be spared” . However, the government has not accepted the demand for Minister Pradhan’s resignation, as it would be seen as an admission of failure . The government has also been criticised for its heavy-handed police response to the protesters, which included tear gas and baton charges .

4. Why is the NEET exam itself seen as a symbol of a flawed system?

Critics, including former Tamil Nadu CM M.K. Stalin, argue that NEET has failed its promises: it has not reduced inequality but has shifted the focus to expensive coaching centres, thereby disadvantaging rural and poor students . The assumption that a single test measures merit better than years of academic performance is not supported by international evidence . The repeated lowering of qualifying percentiles to fill private college seats further exposes the myth of a pure meritocracy, institutionalising privilege instead .

5. What are the broader issues underlying the student protests?

The protests reflect a generation under pressure. Families make enormous sacrifices because a degree is still seen as the primary path to a secure life . However, job creation has not kept pace with the rapid expansion of graduates. Urban youth unemployment is high, and one in four young people are neither employed nor in education or training . Repeated exam leaks are seen as a theft of time and a broken social contract. The movement has tapped into a deeper reality: a generation that feels the system is no longer working for them, and is beginning to push back .

Education’s Falling Share in Budget Over 12 Years

By Udit Misra
New Delhi, July 23, 2026

Over the past three days, New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar has attracted significant attention as many disgruntled youth from across India have come together under the leadership of the so-called Cockroach Janta Party to demand the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan [citation:original text].

The immediate trigger for the protests was the leak of the 2026 NEET-UG question paper. Every year, millions of students hoping to become doctors take the exam. This was neither the first time NEET papers got leaked, nor was it the only examination to witness such a lapse. Reports suggest that over the past decade, test papers have been leaked in over 150 different competitive examinations held in India [citation:original text].

What has intensified criticism is the sense of lack of accountability around such repeated lapses. A recent investigation by The Indian Express into the status of cases linked to 45 major exam paper leaks over the past two decades, where each exam saw at least one lakh applicants, threw up stark results: only two of these cases led to convictions. Most are either trapped in legal quicksand or have hit a dead end. In fact, two of the accused in exam leaks are now representatives in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly [citation:original text].

At a time when the Narendra Modi-led government’s handling of the education sector is under scrutiny, how can its performance be analysed? There is no singular metric, but the allocation of money from annual Budgets to the relevant departments and ministries is a good way to understand the importance any government attaches to a particular issue [citation:original text]. In the past, several scholars have repeatedly criticised Indian governments for not allocating enough funds to critical ministries such as education and health [citation:original text].

Examining Budget Allocations

It is natural that over time, the absolute amount allocated to any major ministry will increase, if for no other reason than the annual inflation in prices of the same goods and services. The metric for ascertaining whether a ministry or department lost or gained relevance in policy terms is to look at the funds allocated to it as a percentage of the total Budget for a financial year [citation:original text].

Since Budget Estimates have routinely changed, the following exercise only looks back on the period for which data is available. In other words, all analysis uses data up to the end of the last financial year. The starting point for the data is 2009, the earliest year for which the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy’s (CMIE) Economic Outlook module provides details [citation:original text].

When the data is compiled, a clear picture emerges of the Education Ministry’s relative importance, or the lack of it, during the first 12 years of this NDA government [citation:original text].

Reducing Share Since 2014

Looking back at the Union Budget from 2009-10 onwards, it becomes clear that, on average, the total size of the Union Budget grew by an average of 10.4% each year. This means that the total amount of money the government spent each year was roughly 10% more than what it spent the year before. As such, across most ministries and departments, Budget allocations (in absolute terms) also went up [citation:original text].

However, the focus is not on the absolute amount of money spent on a ministry but whether its share in the overall Budget expanded or shrunk or remained stagnant.

The Education Ministry’s share in the Budget fell from 4.6% in 2013-14 (the last year the UPA was in power) to 2.5% in 2025-26. This represents a steep fall of nearly 46% in its share of the total budget, despite the absolute numbers rising to around ₹1.3 lakh crore in 2025-26 from about ₹79,000 crore in 2014-15 . In contrast, the share of money spent on making roads and highways has almost trebled to 5.8% in the past 12 years. In fact, 12 years ago, education and health together received 6.5% of the annual Budget while the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways received just 1.8% of the total expenditure. All these years on, education and health together received only about 4.5% of the annual Budget while the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways receives 5.8% alone [citation:original text].

The share of allocation to the Health Ministry has gone up and down marginally from one year to another, but the share is stagnant over the long term [citation:original text]. Budget 2025-26 allocated ₹90,658 crore to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, which was a 4.9% increase from the revised estimate of ₹86,400 crore in FY25 . However, this was only about 1.5% of the total budget, a percentage that has remained mostly flat for over a decade.

Skill Development: A Sobering Picture

Over the years, especially with the rise of artificial intelligence, governments have focused on skill development above education. In fact, in 2015-16, the Union government created a new ministry just for this purpose. However, the share of the Budget spent on skill training is a sobering picture, and is quite in contrast to the government’s pronouncements to “Skill India”. The share of allocations to the Ministry of Skill Development was a minuscule 0.06% to begin with, and has now slid to 0.05% [citation:original text].

This is a paltry sum for a ministry that is expected to train the world’s largest youth population. The Budget 2025-26 allocated just over ₹1,600 crore to the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, a marginal increase from the previous year’s allocation of ₹1,400 crore, but still insignificant in the context of the ₹50-lakh-crore union budget. The government’s own data shows that only about 4% of India’s workforce has received any formal vocational training, and this despite the existence of the Skill India Mission for over a decade.

The Global Context and the Indian Exception

India’s low spending on education contrasts sharply with global trends. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recommends that countries allocate at least 6% of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to education . The Economic Survey 2022-23 had also recommended that India spend 6% of GDP on education, as per the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020), which states that 6% of GDP should be spent on education . However, India’s public expenditure on education has consistently remained below 3% of GDP for decades. In the developed world, the average public spending on education is around 5% of GDP. In emerging economies like Brazil and South Africa, it is even higher.

The Takeaway

Looking at the share, level and trend of allocations provides a good understanding of a government’s priorities. To be sure, each government is entitled to choose its own set of priorities — after all, this is exactly why voters choose or discard governments. The Modi government is now in its third consecutive term, suggesting that voters have resoundingly ratified the government’s policy choices [citation:original text].

Yet, the decline in the share of allocation to the Ministry of Education is worrying for the Finance Ministry. And while spending more money is no guarantee for the quality of expenditure — as many cases of sinking new roads and falling bridges attest — it is often a necessary first step towards improving the situation. The picture emerging from this data echoes the words of the noted economist John Kenneth Galbraith: “I am worried about our tendency to over invest in things and under invest in people” [citation:original text].

Q&A Section

1. What is the “Cockroach Janta Party” and what is it protesting?

The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) is a satirical youth-led protest movement that emerged in response to repeated examination paper leaks and employment crises in India. The protests have been demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. The CJP’s protests escalated when thousands of students attempted to march to Parliament on July 20, leading to police lathi charges and tear gas. The immediate trigger was the leak of the 2026 NEET-UG question paper [citation:original text][citation:original text].

2. How has the share of education in the Union Budget changed over the last 12 years?

The Education Ministry’s share in the Union Budget has fallen from 4.6% in 2013-14 (the last year of the UPA government) to 2.5% in 2025-26 . This represents a sharp decline of nearly 46% in its share of the total budget, despite the absolute numbers rising due to inflation and economic growth. In contrast, the share of money spent on roads and highways has almost trebled to 5.8% in the same period [citation:original text].

3. How does India’s education spending compare to global recommendations?

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recommends that countries allocate at least 6% of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to education . The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 also recommends spending 6% of GDP on education . However, India’s public expenditure on education has consistently remained below 3% of GDP for decades. In the developed world, the average public spending on education is around 5% of GDP, and in emerging economies like Brazil and South Africa, it is even higher.

4. Why is the Budget allocation to the Skill Development Ministry considered inadequate?

The government created a separate Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship in 2015-16 to address the pressing need to train India’s youth for employment. However, the share of the Budget allocated to this ministry is minuscule—0.06% to begin with, and has now slid to 0.05% . This is a paltry sum for a ministry that is expected to train the world’s largest youth population, and the government’s own data shows that only about 4% of India’s workforce has received any formal vocational training.

5. What is the general takeaway from the analysis of budget allocations?

The analysis reveals that the government has significantly reduced the share of education in the Union Budget, while drastically increasing spending on physical infrastructure like roads. This reflects a policy preference for investing in “things” rather than “people,” a tendency that economist John Kenneth Galbraith had warned about. While spending more money on education is not a guarantee of quality, it is often a necessary first step towards improving the situation and ensuring the nation’s future prosperity .

When Regional Pillars Crack: The Breakdown and Merger of Political Parties in India

By Aditi Nayar
New Delhi, July 23, 2026

Nowadays, we often see press coverage about the breakdown of regional parties in various states of India. Members of Parliament and legislative assembly members belonging to such parties are deserting their organisations to join national outfits like the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). There is also a lot of speculation in the media that regional parties like the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party might join a bigger national party, and that the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) may have similar plans. What does such a discourse and development reflect? What will be the implication of such trends on the political democracy in India? What does the future hold for politics and parties basing themselves on specific regions? [citation:original text]

Some political analysts assert that we are gradually moving towards a two party-based political system. If that happens, it may produce two kinds of results. First, Indian politics may move towards a kind of monochromatism — that is, there will be little choice for the public in electoral politics. On the one hand, it will remove confusion from people’s minds when it comes to deciding who they want to elect. On the other hand, a multiplicity of options in politics will be weakened and get reduced. Secondly, some analysts believe that in such a scenario Indian politics will be organised into two views or positions which will help constrain any anarchic expressions of democratic opinion [citation:original text].

The Social Fabric of Indian Politics

Our society is a conglomeration of various social, cultural, and economic groups on the lines of caste, religion, and language that in turn form various political interest groups. These interest groups sometimes form political parties based on caste, communities, and language. In Uttar Pradesh, for instance, there are clear caste-based political parties such as the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (which is dominated by the Rajbhar caste) or the Nishad Party, which claims to represent the interests of communities such as Mallah, Bind, Nishad, among others. There are other such as the Apna Dal or the Samajwadi Party (SP) that have a base represented by one caste — such as Kurmis and Yadavs respectively for the two parties. However, they also try to mobilise other social groups to maximise their chances of strong electoral performance [citation:original text].

Apart from the All India Majlis-e-Ittihadul Muslimleen, led by Asaduddin Owaisi, is vocal about the interests of Muslims in India, whereas a Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu or both the factions of the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra espouse politics that represents ethnic, regional, and linguistic identities [citation:original text].

With the growing media buzz about likely inclination among some of these parties to merge with national parties, what is the fate of representation of social groups? National parties like the BJP and Congress may then evolve into loose confederations of wide-ranging interests groups and appear to be platforms for their political expressions [citation:original text].

Consequently, national parties may become more federal in nature — in terms of their form, content, structure, organisational representation, and politics. Their vote bases too may expand, as a result of which their very character may change substantially. In fact, such a change has already happened in case of the BJP. It has expanded greatly over the last few decades and has tried to become more flexible as an organisation, rendering it more and more inclusive [citation:original text].

The Decline of Regional Parties: A Symbiotic Relationship

An important question is why are we seeing a trend of parties getting fractured and merging despite their leaders having practised, from the very beginning, a deeply passionate politics that is centred on specific groups and regions [citation:original text].

It is true that several of these parties — be it the Rashtriya Janata Dal in Bihar, SP in Uttar Pradesh, or the TMC in West Bengal — steadily turned into family-based organisations. As a result, some of them have lost trust and credibility among a section of their core constituency. This reflects in their failure to deliver strong, decisive results in recent elections. Their party cadre and leaders may be losing confidence in their future prospects. Such insecurity can contribute to the breakdown of parties, as we are increasingly seeing. Seen from a careerist lens, many leaders may lose hope in the electoral potential of such parties, while some may even question the amount of respect they get within them. All of these factors have led to deep decay in these once powerful regional parties [citation:original text].

It is also a reality that internal democracy sees a dilution and decline in family-run political parties. When the party cadre and leaders suffer from a sense of loss of dignity, organisational strength and electoral performance become natural casualties. In such a situation, they look for opportunities to jump ship, often choosing national parties that hold greater promise for their political career. Insecurity, fear of irrelevance, allurement, and greed may no doubt have a role in their exit — but the root causes often stem from the culture of a single family’s dominance [citation:original text].

The Maharashtra Example: A Case Study

The most dramatic illustration of this trend has been the implosion of the Shiv Sena. The party, which had been the dominant political force in Maharashtra for decades, split into two factions after the 2019 state assembly elections. The Shiv Sena (UBT), led by Uddhav Thackeray, has seen its support base steadily erode. The faction led by Eknath Shinde, which aligned with the BJP, has been accused of causing the decline of the original party’s core ideology.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance, of which the Shiv Sena (UBT) was a part, performed better than the ruling Mahayuti coalition, securing 30 out of 48 seats . However, the 2026 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections revealed the full extent of the BJP’s dominance, with the BJP-led coalition sweeping the state . The rise of new regional forces, such as the Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), which is a party of the Bahujan Mahasangh, indicates that the politics of a single family may be giving way to a broader social coalition .

The TMC and the “Sangh Parivar” Faction

In West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress (TMC), led by Mamata Banerjee, has also faced internal turmoil. The TMC has been accused of having a “Sangh Parivar faction” within it, which has been pressing for a merger with the BJP . This has led to intense internal conflicts, with some leaders alleging that the party’s general secretary is operating as a “BJP agent” and has “captured” the party . The TMC leadership has dismissed these allegations, but the conflict has created a crisis of confidence within the party, leading to reports of leaders crossing over to the BJP.

The developments in Maharashtra and West Bengal underline the larger trend of regional parties fracturing. The rise of a strong, centralised national party—the BJP—has created an incentive for regional leaders to align with it, either through a formal merger or through a tacit alliance. This has led to a situation where regional parties are either being absorbed into the national party or are being reduced to the margins of the political system.

The Rise of the “BJP System”

The BJP’s dominance has not only weakened regional parties but has also transformed the nature of political competition. The party has successfully positioned itself as the primary pole of political power in the country, with the Congress and other opposition parties struggling to offer a coherent alternative. This has led to the emergence of what political scientists call a “dominant party system,” where one party holds a commanding position over the political landscape.

The “BJP system” has created a situation where regional parties are forced to make a choice: either align with the BJP or face political irrelevance. The TMC’s internal turmoil is a reflection of this broader trend, as the party’s leaders are divided over whether to continue its opposition to the BJP or to join it.

Conclusion: The Future of Political Democracy

If the phenomenon of fracturing and merger of regional parties with national ones grows further, then the politics of Indian democracy may take a turn from heteroglossia to diglossia — to borrow terms in sociolinguistics used by eminent social thinker Mikhail Bakhtin to describe voices and linguistic expressions. In that scenario, democracy in India may become more polarised and thinner. It would also mean various social groups in the country are ready to gather at fewer forums to express their politics. Many social groups may merge together and form even bigger political parties in future. Contrary to what many might suspect, that could also be read as a positive sign for cohesive democratic politics. We have to wait and see how the future of political democracy unfolds in India [citation:original text].

Q&A Section

1. What is the trend of breakdown and merger of political parties in India?

The article discusses the growing trend of regional political parties fracturing, with their leaders and members deserting these organizations to join national parties like the BJP. There is also speculation that several regional parties, such as the Trinamool Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT), might merge with a larger national party. This trend reflects a shift towards a more centralized two-party system that could reduce the diversity of political voices.

2. What are the reasons for the decline of regional parties in India?

The decline of regional parties is attributed to several factors: (a) their transformation into family-run organizations, which has eroded internal democracy and credibility; (b) the failure to deliver strong electoral results, leading to a loss of confidence among party cadre; and (c) the rise of a dominant national party (the BJP) that has drawn away leaders and voters by offering better prospects. The culture of a single family’s dominance is seen as a root cause of the decay.

3. How is the BJP’s dominance affecting regional parties?

The BJP’s rise has created a political environment where regional parties are under pressure to either align with it or face irrelevance. The party has expanded its base and become more inclusive, attracting leaders from various regional parties. This has led to a situation where regional parties are either being absorbed into the BJP or are reduced to the margins of the political system. The dominance has also created a “BJP system” where the party is the primary pole of political power.

4. What are the implications of this trend for Indian democracy?

The implications are twofold. On the one hand, a two-party system could simplify electoral choices and reduce confusion. On the other hand, it could lead to a form of “monochromatism” where the multiplicity of political options is reduced, and democracy becomes more polarised and thinner. However, it could also encourage cohesion by bringing various social groups together into larger political formations.

5. What examples does the article provide to illustrate this trend?

The article provides two major examples. In Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena split into two factions, with one aligning with the BJP, leading to a decline in the original party’s core ideology. In West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress has faced internal turmoil, with allegations of a “Sangh Parivar faction” pressing for a merger with the BJP, creating a crisis of confidence. Both examples illustrate how regional parties are fracturing under the pressure of a dominant national party.

Lessons from the World’s Largest IPO

By Sunil Sanghai
New Delhi, July 23, 2026

There is much to be proud of in India’s capital markets. Our trading platforms are world-class, our clearing and settlement systems are among the fastest anywhere, our payment and transfer mechanisms work with quiet reliability, and our regulatory architecture has earned genuine international respect. Defaults are rare, disruptions rarer still. In the secondary market, where shares change hands every minute in millions, we can say with confidence that we stand shoulder to shoulder with any developed market in the world [citation:original text].

A market has two engines. The secondary market provides liquidity; the primary market provides capital. It is the primary market that allows companies to raise resources, fund factories, hire people, and build the future. Here, candidly, we are not yet firing on both engines. Our primary market, for all its recent vibrancy, remains slower, more rigid, and more prescriptive than it needs to be [citation:original text].

The SpaceX Phenomenon: Speed and Scale

Nothing illustrates this better than the largest initial public offering in history, the blockbuster listing of SpaceX in the US this June. SpaceX, the aerospace company founded by Elon Musk, went public on June 12, 2026, in an offering that raised a staggering $75 billion and valued the company at roughly $1.8 trillion . The offering was structured as all-primary, meaning all proceeds went directly to the company to fund its ambitious expansion plans .

Consider the arithmetic. SpaceX confidently filed its draft papers with the US securities regulator on April 1. Its public prospectus followed on May 20. The roadshow began on June 1, and the issue was priced on June 11, and the shares began trading on Nasdaq on June 12. A $75-billion offering was completed start to finish in about 10 weeks. In India, a transaction a fraction of that size would comfortably take several months, sometimes the better part of a year, from draft filing to listing [citation:original text].

Why does speed matter? Because markets are dynamic and money has a time value. A window of favourable sentiment can open and close within weeks. Efficiency in the primary market is not a luxury; it is the difference between capital raised and capital foregone [citation:original text].

In India, the IPO process is considerably more protracted. According to the regulatory framework, the journey from appointing investment bankers to listing typically takes between 6 to 12 months . SEBI’s review of the Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) alone can take 2 to 4 months . The recent relaxation allowing a 50% revision in the fresh issue size without refiling the DRHP is a welcome step, but it is a temporary measure extended only until September 2026 . This suggests that the underlying structural rigidity remains.

Flexibility: Fixed Pricing and Market Confidence

The second, subtler difference is flexibility. As markets and market participants mature, the best regulatory frameworks evolve from prescription based on rules towards discipline based on principles, where the regulators set the guardrails and the market makes the commercial choices [citation:original text].

SpaceX offers a striking example. Instead of the customary price band, it announced a single fixed price of $135 per share, take it or leave it. Investors were free to walk away. They did not; the book was oversubscribed several times over. The regulator did not need to script the pricing; disclosure and market forces did the work [citation:original text].

Contrast this with our framework, where almost everything is codified — the nature of the transaction, the mix of fresh and secondary shares, periods for which shares are locked in, the methodology of allocation, the definition of a promoter, the treatment of founders, and even the format in which information must be presented. Each rule was written with good intentions. Together, they leave issuers and investors with remarkably little room to structure a transaction that suits their circumstances [citation:original text].

A few years later, the stock market capitalization of promoters and the elaborate disclosures that flow from it are essentially commercial matters between the issuer and its investors, the two parties best placed to decide what assurance they need from each other. Requirements for locking in shares, similarly, could be guided by broad regulatory direction rather than exhaustive prescription of every category and tenure; in the US, the customary 180-day restriction on insiders’ sales is largely a contractual norm, not a statutory straitjacket [citation:original text].

Indeed, the SpaceX lockup itself showed remarkable flexibility: some investors could sell in stages well before 180 days, while Elon Musk voluntarily agreed to a lockup of 366 days . The market, not the rulebook, struck that balance [citation:original text].

The Underwriting Difference

Another key difference between the US and Indian IPO processes lies in the role of merchant bankers. In the US, the merchant banker buys the shares and takes them on their books before selling them to investors. This means the entire risk is passed on to the merchant bankers. In India, the risk is entirely upon the company, as the company allots directly to the investors .

This structural difference has profound implications. In the US, the underwriting bank has a financial incentive to price the IPO correctly and ensure its success. In India, the merchant banker’s liability is limited to disclosures in the prospectus, but they do not bear the risk of the issue failing. This could explain why Indian issuers have less flexibility in pricing and structuring their offerings.

Language and Disclosures

The way the offer document is written also differs. In the US, the language is relatively more relaxed. Adjectives can be used as long as they are not misleading. For example, the Ferrari IPO stated that the company’s “logo is the most recognised” and “it is one of the most recognized car brands,” without needing a third-party to back those statements . In India, adjectives in an offer document are used with great caution. If a company says it is the “largest manufacturer” of a product, there needs to be an industry expert to back that claim .

This reflects a broader regulatory philosophy. The US regulatory regime provides more certainty through the concept of “no-action” letters, where the SEC confirms that it will not take action on certain aspects that might be contrary to the law. In India, the law is more dynamic and changes regularly, which can create a perception of regulatory uncertainty .

The Way Forward

The predictable objection is that such freedom will harm investors, and that the regulator must therefore prescribe. History suggests otherwise. We heard precisely this argument when India moved away from controlled pricing of public issues in the early 1990s. The sky did not fall. Free pricing unleashed three decades of growth in which issuers, investors, and the market itself have flourished. Sensible deregulation, anchored in strong disclosure, has consistently made our markets bigger, deeper, and safer—not weaker [citation:original text].

None of this diminishes the credit due to our regulator, which has built one of the most trusted market frameworks in the emerging world. It is, rather, an invitation to take the next confident step. We have the plumbing of a developed market; we now need its flexibility as well. Trust the disclosure regime we have so carefully built and the sophistication of our investors, and let commercial decisions rest with those who bear their consequences. Less prescription and more principle will not dilute our markets. It will complete them [citation:original text].

Q&A Section

1. What made the SpaceX IPO historically significant, and what can India learn from it?

SpaceX’s IPO was the largest in history, raising $75 billion and valuing the company at $1.8 trillion. The process took only 10 weeks from draft filing to listing, while a comparable Indian IPO would take months. The key lesson for India is that speed and flexibility in the primary market are essential to seize windows of favourable sentiment and allow capital formation to proceed efficiently [citation:original text].

2. How did SpaceX’s pricing strategy differ from standard practice?

Instead of using a customary price band, SpaceX announced a single fixed price of $135 per share, allowing investors to take it or leave it. This unconventional approach relied on disclosure and market forces rather than regulatory prescription, and the offering was still oversubscribed several times over [citation:original text]. This highlights the potential for greater flexibility in pricing if the disclosure regime is strong and investors are sophisticated.

3. What is the fundamental difference between US and Indian IPO underwriting?

In the US, the merchant banker buys the shares and takes them on their books, assuming the risk of the issue. In India, the company allots directly to investors, and the risk is entirely on the company . This difference influences pricing, flexibility, and the incentives of the intermediaries involved.

4. What are the key procedural obstacles that make Indian IPOs slower?

The Indian IPO process typically takes 6 to 12 months, with SEBI’s review of the DRHP alone taking 2 to 4 months . The regulatory framework is highly prescriptive, with codified rules covering the nature of the transaction, share mix, lock-in periods, and allocation methodology. The US process is faster because it relies more on market forces and less on exhaustive regulatory prescription [citation:original text].

5. What is the “no-action letter” concept in the US, and why is it significant?

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) can issue “no-action” letters confirming that it will not take action on certain aspects that might be contrary to the law. This provides regulatory certainty for companies and encourages innovation. In India, the law is more dynamic and changes regularly, which can create a perception of regulatory uncertainty .

AI Use Revives Flawed Backdoor Job References

By Stephen Mihm
New Delhi, July 23, 2026

For employers seeking to assess potential hires, AI has been more curse than blessing. Mediocre applicants increasingly rely on it to burnish their resumes, coach them through high-stakes job interviews, and generate false references, leaving many hiring authorities sceptical that they can judge quality from appearances alone .

In response, a growing number of employers have been secretly contacting “backdoor references” — current and former colleagues who haven’t been coached to say nice things about the applicant. This controversial practice, once confined to high-level hires, has spread to entry-level jobs .

Today’s backdoor reference checks revive a strategy first developed nearly two centuries ago. When the US was still only a few decades old, individual merchants and entrepreneurs, not large corporations, dominated the economy. Each player in this capitalist system was bound to many others by a complex web of credit and debt, lending and borrowing in order to pursue their fortune.

The Crisis of Trust That Created the Mercantile Agency

At first, this system worked well enough because the typical entrepreneur’s circle of associates consisted of well-known intimates: family and friends who could be counted upon to look out for the overall welfare of the group. As society became more complex — and railroads and the telegraph enabled economic relationships between distant communities — people found themselves forced to do business with strangers.

Historian Scott Sandage, in his book Born Losers, observed the perils of the new economic order: “Trading beyond the horizon precluded looking another man in the eye. Confidence men now moved faster than their reputations” . As Sandage has chronicled, one man would emerge with a solution: Lewis Tappan .

A prominent abolitionist, Tappan spent the 1830s managing credit for a silkscreen business he ran with his brother. When the economy collapsed in the Panic of 1837, Tappan watched the intricate web of financial obligations unravel, nearly taking down the firm with it . He came away convinced that there must be a better way to judge the probity and creditworthiness of those dwelling outside one’s immediate circle .

He ultimately settled on a forerunner of today’s backdoor references. Tappan’s plan was to find correspondents – attorneys, ministers, and fellow abolitionists – who would twice annually submit reports to his office in New York. The reports would track businessmen, their firms, and answer certain questions like:

• “Is he a man of fair character and good business habits?”

• “Was he educated to merchandise?”

• “What is he worth, and has he able friends?”

• “Is he engaged in any other business, and if so, what?”

• “Is he a man of family, and has he ever failed in business?” 

The Agency That “Checked Knavery”

Tappan opened the Mercantile Agency in 1841 . He declared it would “render safe and profitable to all concerned, the great credit system.” Or as he put it more bluntly in a private letter: “It checks knavery & purifies the mercantile air” .

Within a decade of starting the Mercantile Agency, Tappan had more than 2,000 correspondents who sent back regular, but secret, assessments about the reputation of everyone from shoemakers to bankers . His informants, many of them lawyers or other local notables, would supply confidential information to Tappan. He compensated his agents in different ways, giving them free access to the information contained in his ledgers, or, in the case of local lawyers, steering debt collection cases their way.

Tappan’s army of spies left many feeling that their privacy had been violated. He pushed back, arguing in an advertisement that his agency was “not a system of espionage,” but this was debatable .

A Legacy That Endures

The Mercantile Agency would later become R.G. Dun & Company, eventually merging with a rival in 1933 to form Dun & Bradstreet . The company evolved towards more objective, quantitative measures of creditworthiness, but its origins were in the kind of gossipy, unverified character assessments that Tappan pioneered.

Confronted with a crisis of confidence generated by technology and dizzying economic change, 21st-century employers are once again relying on gossip and hearsay to assess potential hires. Tappan would understand. But companies should remember these character assessments aren’t immune to bias or error — and proceed with caution.

The Scale of the New Fraud Crisis

The reason for the return of backdoor references is clear: AI-driven candidate fraud has arrived at scale. According to Checkr’s 2026 Recruitment Realities survey, 73% of companies have encountered AI-generated resumes, cover letters, or assessments . Nearly half (49%) have extended a job offer to someone who misrepresented their skills using AI tools, and another 26% suspect it has happened but cannot confirm .

Applicant fraud has moved from a quality-of-hire concern to a security exposure . Gartner projects that by 2028, one in four candidate profiles worldwide will be fake . A GetReal Security study found that 41% of surveyed enterprises have hired and onboarded a fraudulent candidate .

The Challenge of Backdoor References

The growing use of backdoor references reflects this broader trust breakdown. While they can offer valuable, unfiltered insight, they also carry significant risks. Mark Toscano, a recruiter, balances discretion and disclosure, informing candidates that he plans to contact former colleagues and giving them a chance to respond to any criticism .

However, these assessments aren’t immune to bias or error. They rely on hearsay, can be shaped by personal animosities, and often fail to provide a complete picture of a candidate’s capabilities. As history shows, the system Tappan built was based on the subjective judgments of local informants, not objective data. In an era of heightened scrutiny over workplace bias, relying on such methods is a risky strategy.

Companies would do well to remember that while technology may make it easier to seek out backdoor references, the fundamental flaw of relying on unverified gossip remains. The solution is not to revive 19th-century spy networks, but to build more robust, transparent, and equitable hiring processes that can withstand the AI revolution.

Q&A Section

1. What are “backdoor references,” and why are they becoming more common?

Backdoor references are informal inquiries made to individuals not listed as official references by a job candidate, often current or former colleagues. They are becoming more common because AI tools have made it easier for candidates to create polished resumes, coach themselves through interviews, and generate false references, leading employers to seek unfiltered, candid human insight .

2. Who was Lewis Tappan, and what was the Mercantile Agency?

Lewis Tappan was a 19th-century American abolitionist and businessman who founded the Mercantile Agency in 1841. The agency was the first successful credit reporting service, hiring a network of correspondents to submit confidential reports on the character and creditworthiness of businessmen in their communities. The agency eventually evolved into Dun & Bradstreet .

3. What is the scale of AI-driven applicant fraud?

AI-driven applicant fraud is now a widespread problem. Checkr’s 2026 survey found that 73% of companies have encountered AI-generated applications, and nearly half have extended a job offer to someone who misrepresented their qualifications using AI tools. Gartner projects that by 2028, one in four candidate profiles will be fake .

4. What risks do backdoor references carry?

Backdoor references carry significant risks. They rely on hearsay, can be shaped by personal animosities, and often fail to provide a complete picture of a candidate’s capabilities. They can also introduce bias into the hiring process and are difficult to verify .

5. What lessons can today’s employers learn from the history of credit reporting?

Today’s employers can learn that relying on unverified, subjective character assessments is risky. The Mercantile Agency was built on gossip and hearsay, not objective data. Companies should build more robust, transparent, and equitable hiring processes that can withstand the AI revolution, rather than relying on methods that are prone to bias and error .

Stop Asking Whether the World Has Too Many People

By Atanu Biswas
New Delhi, July 23, 2026

Every few years, the world returns to the same old argument. One side worries that humanity is growing beyond the planet’s limits. The other worries about empty cradles, ageing societies and shrinking workforces. Both arguments contain a grain of truth, but they both overlook the larger context. The real story is not a single global population crisis. It’s a world moving in different demographic directions at once [citation:original text].

The global population has crossed 8.3 billion and is still rising. But beneath that headline lies a remarkable shift. The average woman today has about 2.3 children — less than half the global fertility rate of the 1950s. Per different estimates, nearly two-thirds of the world’s people now live in countries where fertility has fallen below the replacement level of 2.1 births per woman. Once fertility remains below that threshold for long enough, populations begin to age and decline [citation:original text].

East Asia illustrates the trend dramatically. South Korea’s fertility rate has fallen to around 0.72, the lowest ever recorded for a major economy. China, after decades of limiting births, is now urging couples to have more children. Japan has become a symbol of demographic ageing, with shrinking schools, deserted villages and an expanding elderly population. Much of Europe faces similar challenges, while even the US now records births below replacement level [citation:original text].

The picture is very different elsewhere. Across much of Sub-Saharan Africa, populations continue to grow rapidly. India, despite fertility nearing replacement level, remains so populous because of the momentum created by earlier decades of high birth rates. However, southern States such as Kerala and Tamil Nadu already have fertility rates comparable to Europe, while some northern States still have relatively higher fertility. In other words, the global demographic paradox exists within India as well [citation:original text].

The Demographic Divide: A Tale of Two Worlds

The world is splitting into two demographic camps. On one side are countries with rapidly ageing populations and shrinking workforces. On the other are nations with young, growing populations. This divide has profound implications for the global economy.

The global fertility rate fell from 3.3 in 1960 to 2.3 in 2023 . In 1960, the average woman had more than five children . By 2023, the average was 2.3 . At least 17 countries, including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and many others, reported their lowest fertility levels in history in 2023 . South Korea’s fertility rate of 0.72 in 2023 is a stark outlier, but it is part of a broader trend across East Asia and Europe .

In contrast, Sub-Saharan Africa continues to have high fertility rates, with Niger leading the world at 6.8 births per woman . The population of Sub-Saharan Africa is projected to more than double by 2050 . The contrast is stark: a shrinking workforce in the developed world and a booming youth population in the developing world.

Fears of Overpopulation: A Complex Reality

For decades, population debates were dominated by fears of overpopulation. Influential books such as The Population Bomb predicted global catastrophe, prompting governments to launch population-control programmes. Many people came to believe that fewer births automatically meant a better future. Reality has proved far more complex [citation:original text].

Fertility usually declines as countries become healthier, wealthier and better educated. Women pursue higher education and careers, infant mortality falls, urban housing becomes expensive, and raising children costs more. Smaller families are often signs of development rather than decline [citation:original text].

Yet success brings new problems. Ageing societies have fewer workers supporting more retirees. Pension systems come under pressure, healthcare costs rise, labour shortages become chronic and economic growth slows. Governments have responded with generous incentives, subsidised childcare and extended parental leave, but to little effect. Government bonuses are not as important as economic security, affordable housing and confidence in the future as it pertains to decisions about having children [citation:original text].

The Indian Context: A Paradox Within a Paradox

India, despite fertility nearing replacement level, remains so populous because of the momentum created by earlier decades of high birth rates. However, southern States such as Kerala and Tamil Nadu already have fertility rates comparable to Europe, while some northern States still have relatively higher fertility. In other words, the global demographic paradox exists within India as well [citation:original text].

India’s total fertility rate (TFR) is currently around 2.0, just below the replacement level of 2.1 . However, this masks significant regional variation. Kerala’s TFR is 1.8, while Bihar’s is 2.9 . The state of Telangana’s population has grown by 10.6% between 2011 and 2023 . Uttar Pradesh’s population is set to become the country’s most populous, overtaking the United States and Russia combined, by 2050 .

Southern states, like Kerala and Tamil Nadu, have fertility rates comparable to European countries. Northern states, like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, still have relatively high fertility. This means India has both a rapidly aging population in the south and a young, growing population in the north. It is a country that is moving in two demographic directions at once. The north-south divide is already a political flashpoint, as southern states fear their political representation will be reduced.

The Global Challenge: Demographic Resilience

Perhaps the greatest misconception is that there is an ideal population size. There is not. What matters is not simply how many people a country has, but their age structure, health, education, productivity, and opportunities. A rapidly ageing society and a rapidly growing one require entirely different policy responses. Nor is population alone responsible for environmental pressure. Consumption matters just as much. A child born in a wealthy country will typically consume far more energy and natural resources over a lifetime than one born in a poorer nation. Concentrating on population numbers alone ignores these huge inequalities [citation:original text].

The goal, therefore, shouldn’t be to increase or reduce population indiscriminately but to build demographic resilience. That means making parenthood affordable where people want children, embracing well-managed immigration where labour shortages threaten growth, using automation to offset shrinking workforces, and ensuring universal education, healthcare, and reproductive choice where populations are still expanding. That would reduce fertility rates [citation:original text].

Conclusion

The world’s population is not a single problem with a single solution. It is a complex, multifaceted issue that requires tailored responses. The goal should not be to increase or reduce population indiscriminately but to build demographic resilience. This means ensuring that all people have access to education, healthcare, and economic opportunities, regardless of where they live. By focusing on the well-being of people, we can create a more sustainable and equitable world for everyone.

Q&A Section

1. What are the two competing population narratives mentioned in the article?
The two competing narratives are: (1) the fear of overpopulation, where humanity is growing beyond the planet’s limits, and (2) the fear of depopulation, where ageing societies and shrinking workforces threaten economic growth. Both arguments contain a grain of truth but overlook the larger context of a world moving in different demographic directions at once.

2. How has the global fertility rate changed over the past decades?
The global fertility rate has fallen from 3.3 in 1960 to 2.3 in 2023. In the 1950s, the average woman had about five children; today, the average is about 2.3 children. Nearly two-thirds of the world’s population now lives in countries where fertility is below the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman, leading to population aging and decline.

3. Why do some countries have rapidly growing populations while others are declining?
Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa continue to have high fertility rates, with Niger at 6.8 births per woman, leading to rapid population growth. In contrast, East Asia and Europe have very low fertility rates—South Korea’s is 0.72—leading to population decline and ageing. These differences reflect varying levels of economic development, urbanization, education, and access to healthcare.

4. What is the demographic paradox within India?
India’s total fertility rate is around 2.0, just below replacement level. However, this masks significant regional variation. Southern states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu have fertility rates comparable to Europe (1.8), while northern states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar still have relatively high fertility (2.9). India is a country moving in two demographic directions at once, with a rapidly ageing south and a young, growing north.

5. What does the author mean by “demographic resilience”?
Demographic resilience means building societies that can adapt to demographic change, regardless of whether the population is growing or shrinking. This includes making parenthood affordable where people want children, embracing well-managed immigration where labour is scarce, using automation to offset shrinking workforces, and ensuring universal education, healthcare, and reproductive choice where populations are still expanding. The goal is not to increase or reduce population indiscriminately but to build resilience.

Beyond Wooing FPIs: India Needs Long-Term Stable Foreign Investment

By Ajay Tyagi
New Delhi, July 23, 2026

Facilitating foreign investment has always been a priority for the government. The subject has taken centre stage and gained urgency in recent times, considering the need to shore up the Indian currency [citation:original text].

Foreign funds could come through various modes, such as foreign direct investment (FDI), remittances, external commercial borrowings (ECBs), and foreign portfolio investment (FPI). Of these, FPIs, by their very nature, are fickle and the least dependable in ensuring sustained long-term foreign capital. It is relatively quick to attract portfolio investment by taking short-term measures, and the government and regulators are constantly on the lookout for ways to facilitate this [citation:original text].

To what extent should the government and regulators go in wooing FPIs to invest in India? This article examines this.

The Role of FPIs in India’s Capital Markets

The share of FPIs in market capitalisation has been substantial, though it has declined over the past few years. It was around 20 per cent a decade ago and has come down to about 16 per cent now. The market share vacated by them has been gradually occupied by retail investors and mutual funds (MFs). This trend started with demonetisation in 2016. It gathered further momentum from 2020 onwards, initially on account of the low interest rates maintained by the Reserve Bank of India during 2020-22, and later due to increased investor awareness, especially regarding the tax benefits of investing in the equity market vis-à-vis keeping money in banks. MFs’ share of market capitalisation has increased from about 4 per cent in 2015 to above 10 per cent now [citation:original text].

Even so, FPIs continue to be major players in the Indian capital market. Their most important role has been in providing liquidity, thereby facilitating better price discovery. This is even more relevant for companies with dominant promoter shareholding, where adequate free float is an issue. As FPIs operate in different markets across the world, and have the option to move their capital across countries, their investment decisions signal market trends and can sway domestic investors [citation:original text].

The scale of foreign investment in India remains significant. FPIs currently hold about 17% of the country’s total listed equity, and FPI assets stand at nearly $780 billion . In January 2026, US-based FPIs alone held $32.1 trillion in Indian equity and debt markets, up from $29.5 trillion a year earlier . This underscores the depth of global participation in Indian markets.

However, India’s market cap share has fallen below 3% of the global total, down from over 4.6% in 2024, amid sustained FPI outflows . FPIs intensified selling after a record outflow of $18.9 billion in 2025, and have sold $23.1 billion worth of equities in 2026 as of May .

The Regulatory Balancing Act: Liberalisation vs. Safeguards

The stance of the government and regulators towards FPIs has kept changing from time to time, and swung between being too liberal and adopting a cautious approach. In the name of “rationalising” regulations, the rules have often been relaxed or tightened, and different FPI corporate structures have been allowed or disallowed depending on the prevailing market situation [citation:original text].

Some of the procedural “ease of doing business” measures, including the categorisation of FPIs, the prescription of risk-based know your customer (KYC) norms, and a common application form to streamline the onboarding process by consolidating Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) registration, Permanent Account Number (PAN) allocation, and the opening of bank and demat accounts, have made life easier for FPIs. More procedural simplification is needed [citation:original text].

Recent regulatory developments reflect this balancing act. In June 2026, the government widened the Schedule III investment framework from NRIs and OCIs to all individual persons residing outside India . This policy shift aims to expand individual foreign participation in India’s capital markets, with the per-investor limit raised from 5% to less than 10% and the aggregate limit from 10% to 24% . However, this liberalisation is accompanied by enhanced national security safeguards: prior government approval is now required where an investment leads to ownership or control of a listed company vesting in entities or citizens of countries sharing a land border with India .

SEBI is also examining a proposal to raise the 3% cap on composite holdings of FPIs eligible for exemption from additional disclosures, providing further ease of doing business for global investors .

The Concern: Beneficial Ownership and Round-Tripping

The caution stems from the fear of possible round-tripping and money laundering by unscrupulous elements through the FPI route. Unfortunately, this is a genuine concern. That is the reason the regulator follows a cautious approach in prescribing the beneficial ownership (BO) norms for FPIs [citation:original text].

Many FPI structures follow a layered ownership approach, with member entities and their further step-down entities located in different tax haven jurisdictions. Many of these jurisdictions follow overly lax regulations, ostensibly to attract more investments, making it almost impossible for the Indian regulator to identify the ultimate BOs, on a see-through basis, of such FPIs investing in India [citation:original text].

One of the non-negotiable principles that ought to be followed by the regulator is to allow only those FPIs where the ultimate BO, down to the natural person level, could be easily traced. This should uniformly apply to all FPIs, irrespective of their quantum of investments in a single company or across all companies. Further, as non-resident Indians (NRIs) have a separate investment route, the proportion of their participating interest through FPIs should be controlled and closely monitored [citation:original text].

The RBI’s draft Foreign Investment Rules, released in July 2026, seek to consolidate multiple regulations governing foreign investments and put the 10% threshold at the centre of the FDI-FPI distinction . The draft proposes to extend the 10% threshold to unlisted companies, which could have significant implications for PE and VC investments . The draft also introduces an explicit voting-rights threshold in the definition of “control”, where rights allowing an investor to exercise 10% or more voting rights would constitute control .

Tax Policy: Consistency and Equity

Should the government allow concessional capital gains tax rates for FPIs vis-à-vis domestic investors? It shouldn’t. It would only encourage round-tripping of funds. It would also run contrary to the oft-repeated claims that domestic investments have come of age and that they now effectively provide a cushion for abrupt FPI movements [citation:original text].

Thankfully, the recent government decision to remove long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax from FPIs’ investments in Government Securities does not apply to equities. Instead of tax concessions, the government should rationalise the tax structure for all participants — both FPIs and domestic investors. In this context, notwithstanding the loss of tax revenue, the government should withdraw the securities transaction tax, which was introduced in 2004 when the LTCG tax was removed. A consistent and logical tax policy would remove uncertainty and comfort investors [citation:original text].

The STT was introduced in 2004 to compensate for the removal of LTCG tax. However, Budget 2026 raised STT on derivatives significantly: futures increased from 0.02% to 0.05%, and options from 0.1% to 0.15% on premium and 0.125% to 0.15% on exercise . This move aims to increase the cost of speculative trades to protect retail participants . While this is a separate policy objective, the article’s call for a consistent and logical tax structure remains relevant.

The Way Forward

To summarise, FPIs play an important role in capital markets, wherein they improve liquidity, leading to better price discovery. The tax structure needs rationalisation; but both FPIs and domestic investors should bear the same tax rates. While “ease of doing business” is a continuing process, there should be no dilution of the BO norms for FPIs, and these should be strictly enforced [citation:original text].

FPIs have a limited role in shoring up the currency on a sustained basis. There is no point in giving them any short-term and ad hoc concessions for this purpose. Rather, the government should double down on getting more FDI. Some would say that this is a long-term solution and doesn’t address the immediate concern. Remember that the subject of encouraging foreign investment has been deliberated upon ever since the economic reforms of the 1990s; a three-decade-plus time period is long enough [citation:original text].

Q&A Section

1. Why are Foreign Portfolio Investments (FPIs) considered less dependable than other forms of foreign capital?
FPIs are considered less dependable because they are inherently fickle and can move quickly in and out of markets. They are the least reliable source for ensuring sustained long-term foreign capital, as their investment decisions are often driven by short-term market sentiment and global trends rather than long-term economic fundamentals [citation:original text].

2. What is the recent trend in the share of FPIs in India’s market capitalisation?
The share of FPIs in market capitalisation has declined from about 20 per cent a decade ago to about 16 per cent now. This market share has been gradually occupied by retail investors and mutual funds, driven by factors like demonetisation, low interest rates, and increased investor awareness [citation:original text].

3. What are the key changes introduced by the FEMA Third Amendment Rules, 2026?
The amendment expands eligibility under Schedule III from only NRIs and OCIs to all individuals resident outside India, allowing them to invest in listed Indian companies on a repatriation basis. The per-investor limit is raised from 5% to less than 10%, and the aggregate limit from 10% to 24%. However, it also mandates prior government approval for investments that would transfer ownership or control to entities or citizens of countries sharing a land border with India .

4. What is the significance of the beneficial ownership (BO) norms for FPIs?
BO norms are crucial for preventing round-tripping and money laundering through the FPI route. Many FPI structures have layered ownership across tax haven jurisdictions, making it difficult to identify the ultimate beneficial owners. The article argues that only FPIs where the ultimate BO can be easily traced should be allowed, and these norms should be strictly enforced without dilution [citation:original text].

5. What is the Securities Transaction Tax (STT) and how has it changed in Budget 2026?
STT is a direct tax levied on securities transactions on recognised exchanges. Budget 2026 raised STT on futures from 0.02% to 0.05%, and on options (both premium and exercise) from 0.1% and 0.125% respectively to 0.15%, effective April 1, 2026 . The article argues for the withdrawal of STT as part of rationalising the tax structure for both FPIs and domestic investors [citation:original text].

The Rupee is Not a National Report Card

By Aditi Nayar
New Delhi, July 23, 2026

Milton Friedman once made a useful observation about economic debates. Put economists of different ideological persuasions in one room and non-economists in another. Ask both groups to discuss economic policy. On most issues, economists will disagree less among themselves than they disagree with non-economists. India’s exchange-rate debate is one such case [citation:original text].

Many commentators see a fall in the rupee as a national embarrassment. Crossing a psychological level such as 100 to the dollar is seen almost as proof of economic failure. Economists usually approach the issue differently. They do not celebrate depreciation for its own sake, nor do they deny its costs. They ask a more disciplined question: What are the costs, what are the benefits, and is the movement orderly? [citation:original text]

The Costs of a Weaker Rupee

The costs are real. A weaker rupee raises the price of imports, especially crude oil, electronics, machinery and intermediate inputs. It also increases the burden on firms and financial institutions that have borrowed abroad. If depreciation is sharp and disorderly, it can create financial instability. These concerns cannot be dismissed [citation:original text].

India imports about 85 per cent of its crude oil requirements, and a weaker rupee directly increases the cost of these imports, feeding into inflation and widening the current account deficit. Indian firms and financial institutions also have significant external commercial borrowings (ECBs), and a weaker rupee increases the rupee cost of servicing these debts. Sudden, sharp depreciation can trigger a sell-off in markets, as happened in 2025 and 2026, when FPIs pulled out record amounts, causing the rupee to hit record lows and triggering a self-reinforcing cycle of outflows and depreciation [citation:original text].

The Benefits of Depreciation

But the benefits are also real. A gradual real depreciation makes Indian goods more competitive abroad. When the rupee weakens, Indian products become cheaper for foreign buyers, exports rise, firms expand and jobs are created. India may already be seeing early signs of this, with exports growing at double-digit rates recently [citation:original text].

The deeper benefit is not merely that firms sell more abroad. Exporting changes firms. Once firms enter global markets, they face demanding buyers, stricter quality standards, tougher competition and pressure to improve delivery, design and reliability. To survive, they must upgrade. They adopt better production methods, improve management practices, invest in quality control and learn from foreign customers and competitors [citation:original text].

The “Learning by Exporting” Effect

This is not just theory. The literature on “learning by exporting” shows that firms that begin exporting often become more productive after entering export markets. Jan De Loecker’s study of Slovenian manufacturing finds that export entrants become more productive even after accounting for the fact that better firms are more likely to export [citation:original text].

These productivity gains do not remain confined to exporters. Suppliers upgrade to meet exporters’ requirements. Workers and managers move across firms. Competitors imitate successful practices. Techniques developed for global markets eventually enter domestic markets. This is the industrial-policy logic behind export promotion: Exports do not just generate foreign exchange, they generate capabilities [citation:original text].

South Korea’s Example

South Korea’s experience makes the point sharply. Larry Westphal’s study argues that Korea’s export-led industrialisation was not simply about selling more goods abroad. It was about using export competition to force firms to acquire technological capability. Korea moved from simple manufacturing to steel, ships, electronics and automobiles because firms were pushed into global markets and forced to learn [citation:original text].

The Indian government’s PLI scheme in sectors like electronics and mobile manufacturing is essentially an import-substitution policy designed to increase domestic manufacturing and reduce China dependence . A weaker rupee supports domestic production under Atmanirbhar Bharat. While tariffs can help producers, they are blunt, distortionary and invite retaliation. Currency adjustment works more subtly. A weaker rupee makes imports costlier, but through a market mechanism rather than an explicit protectionist wall [citation:original text].

The Rupee in a Global Context

A depreciating rupee, therefore, should not automatically be read as a sign of economic collapse. The Japanese yen has weakened sharply. The Korean won has depreciated. Indonesia’s rupiah has faced pressure. Some European currencies have appreciated against the dollar. These movements reflect global capital flows, interest-rate differences, inflation expectations and investor preferences. They are not moral judgments on national performance [citation:original text].

In 2026, the rupee depreciated by around 10 per cent against a basket of currencies, but many peer currencies weakened more: the Japanese yen lost 14 per cent, the Korean won 12 per cent, and the Thai baht 11 per cent. The weakness of the rupee is partly a mirror of the strength of the dollar, driven by the ongoing conflict in West Asia and the flight to safety. India is not an outlier.

The Role of the RBI

The right conclusion is not that India should engineer a collapse of the rupee. That would be reckless. Nor should the Reserve Bank of India ignore the foreign-exchange market. Its role is essential when markets become disorderly. Sudden volatility can damage bank and corporate balance sheets, trigger panic, disrupt trade finance and threaten financial stability. Foreign-exchange reserves exist precisely to prevent such breakdowns [citation:original text].

But there is a difference between preventing disorderly volatility and defending arbitrary psychological levels. The RBI should use reserves to smooth excessive volatility, not to freeze the rupee at a round number [citation:original text]. India should also avoid measures that create future risks merely to delay gradual depreciation today. Guarantees, artificial incentives and interventions that encourage short-term inflows can become tomorrow’s outflows. Powerful policy weapons should not be wasted defending symbols [citation:original text].

Conclusion

The rupee is a price, not a national flag. A stable economy does not require a permanently stable exchange rate. If gradual, orderly depreciation helps Indian firms enter global markets, learn, upgrade and create jobs, it should not be feared. It should be managed carefully and used intelligently [citation:original text].

Q&A Section

1. Why do many commentators view a falling rupee as a sign of economic failure?
Many commentators see crossing a psychological level, such as 100 rupees to the dollar, as proof of economic failure. They view the rupee’s value as a reflection of the country’s economic health and a weaker currency as a sign of weakness. However, economists argue that the rupee is a price, not a national flag, and that a depreciation can have both costs and benefits [citation:original text].

2. What are the costs of a weaker rupee?
A weaker rupee raises the price of imports, especially crude oil, electronics, and machinery, increasing the cost of production and feeding into inflation. It also increases the burden on firms and financial institutions that have borrowed abroad, as they need more rupees to service their foreign currency debts. If depreciation is sharp and disorderly, it can create financial instability [citation:original text].

3. What are the benefits of a weaker rupee?
A gradual real depreciation makes Indian goods more competitive in global markets, boosting exports. This can lead to firms expanding, creating jobs, and becoming more productive. Exporting firms face demanding buyers and competition, which forces them to upgrade their production methods, management practices, and quality standards. This is known as the “learning by exporting” effect [citation:original text].

4. What does the “learning by exporting” literature show?
The literature shows that firms that begin exporting often become more productive after entering export markets. These productivity gains extend to suppliers, workers, and competitors, creating a positive spillover effect across the economy. Exports generate not just foreign exchange but also capabilities, making them a key part of industrial policy [citation:original text].

5. What is the appropriate role of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in managing the exchange rate?
The RBI should use foreign exchange reserves to smooth excessive volatility and prevent disorderly conditions that could threaten financial stability. However, it should not defend arbitrary psychological levels, such as 100 to the dollar. The RBI should avoid measures that create future risks merely to delay gradual depreciation today. The rupee should be allowed to adjust gradually to reflect market conditions, and the benefits of a competitive exchange rate should be managed carefully and used intelligently [citation:original text].

Metamorphosis Nobody Expected From Young Cockroaches

By Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi
New Delhi, July 23, 2026

In Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, protagonist Gregor Samsa wakes up one morning as a cockroach. His family is horrified not by the transformation, but the prospect of his sheer unemployability. In India, cockroaches – the higher judicial term for India’s young and jobless – woke up and discovered that they had been transformed: into people [citation:original text].

Dissent, the right to organise, the ability to speak truth to power had, overnight, made them human. This revelation was not to themselves – they always were human to themselves – but to a higher power that had renamed them as vermin [citation:original text].

The cockroach is not a casual insult. Frantz Fanon, watching colonial Algeria from inside its asylums, observed how the coloniser’s vocabulary for the colonised resorted to “zoological” terms, with the native described as swarm, as breeder, as a thing that crawls. The propaganda of Nazi Germany described Jews as vermin, parasites, bacilli. Ungeziefer, creatures to be cleansed, rather than persons to be murdered. Often, before power injures a people, it renames them [citation:original text].

The Power of Reclaiming Language

The extraordinary thing about Cockroach Janta Party is its decision to own the language that defiles it. A movement largely of the young has proved that language is not merely expression, but authorship. And where narratives are corrupted, they must be reclaimed, rinsed, recast, reworked. In Excitable Speech, Judith Butler shows that what is named finds a way to band together. The word bitch was recovered by feminists. Queer, once spat, is now an entire field of study [citation:original text].

The CJP began in May 2026 when Supreme Court Chief Justice Surya Kant compared sections of unemployed young people to “cockroaches” and “parasites” . Abhijeet Dipke, a 30-year-old with a master’s in public relations from Boston University, launched the satirical online collective the same night . Within hours, thousands had signed up, and the movement grew from a joke on the internet to a political force with over 23 million followers on Instagram . By embracing the insult, the movement transformed a weapon of humiliation into a badge of honour and a rallying cry.

The Movement Beyond the Memes

Language, likewise, has given the young the power to file RTI after RTI, to gather information on India’s supreme powers. It is what makes for their clear-minded, calm articulations. They have stockpiled evidence long before going into battle. They may be prepared for a long war [citation:original text].

Memes, too, have become a clarion call. Young people from all over India have proudly carried witty, honest placards as they made their way to Jantar Mantar. Slogans have been turned into a way to show authorities that distress can be sung into dissent [citation:original text]. While Faiz Ahmed Faiz is celebrated for Hum dekhnege (we will bear witness), it was a simpler word that made him iconic: Bol. Speak [citation:original text].

The movement’s demands are clear and unflinching: the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over a series of exam paper leaks; ₹1 crore compensation for families of students who died by suicide linked to the NEET paper leak; and the withdrawal of all FIRs filed against peaceful protesters . The CJP’s chief spokesperson Saurav Das has termed the demand for Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation as “non-negotiable” . This is not a “youth gone wild” narrative; it is a deliberate, evidence-based movement that has used RTI petitions to expose the rot in the education system and the government’s failures.

The State’s Response: A Crackdown and a Paradox

The state’s response to the CJP’s protests has been a paradox. On one hand, the movement has forced the government to engage. Health Minister JP Nadda met CJP leaders, and Prime Minister Modi finally addressed the issue, promising “harshest punishment” for those found guilty . On the other hand, the state has also responded with brute force. On July 20, Delhi Police used tear gas, lathi charges, and batons to disperse protesters attempting to march to Parliament . The police action has been widely condemned, with the Opposition accusing the government of “unprecedented brutality” .

The state’s heavy-handed response is a classic sign of an establishment that has lost the ability to engage with its critics. It is a state that has confused silence with consent. As the author notes, “the patriarch may watch the dance at Jantar Mantar, but he has not understood that he himself is the true addressee of this political rave. The passionate, literate rage loosed from our youth’s bow is for every office that mistook the silence of the young for consent” [citation:original text].

The Philosophical Roots of the Protest

To write this movement off as a joke that got out of hand is a disservice. In fact, the young people protesting today can be understood in terms of a post-modern Gandhian satyagraha. Heinrich Zimmer in Philosophies of India writes that satyagraha succeeded because it was a battle of truth. Gandhi was able to prove that colonialism was nothing more than a huge asat. A giant untruth. A lie. His truth cancelled their lie [citation:original text].

And only the truth can surmount the lies that we are told, as if these were the dictum of a family patriarch whose word must be honoured, not because he is wise but because he is old [citation:original text]. The CJP’s use of memes, RTIs, and satirical slogans is a modern-day version of Gandhi’s salt march – a way to expose the absurdity of the system and build a moral case for change.

Conclusion

Gregor Samsa died alone in his room, and he was swept out with the rubbish. His Indian descendants have declined that ending. They are writing their own [citation:original text]. The Cockroach Janta Party has transformed a slur into a movement, a joke into a democratic crisis. The young people who have gathered at Jantar Mantar and across the country are not asking for permission to be heard. They are speaking. They are demanding. They are not “cockroaches.” They are citizens. The question is whether the state will hear them, or continue to see them as something to be crushed.

Q&A Section

1. What is the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and how did it begin?

The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) is a satirical youth-led protest movement that began in May 2026, in response to Supreme Court Chief Justice Surya Kant’s remark comparing unemployed young people to “cockroaches.” Launched by Abhijeet Dipke, the CJP embraced the slur as a badge of honour and has become a powerful voice for young people frustrated by exam leaks, unemployment, and a lack of government accountability [citation:original text].

2. What are the CJP’s main demands?

The CJP’s main demands include: the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan; ₹1 crore compensation for families of students who died by suicide linked to the NEET paper leak; and the withdrawal of all FIRs filed against peaceful protesters. The CJP has termed the demand for Pradhan’s resignation as “non-negotiable” .

3. What is the significance of the CJP’s use of language and memes?

The CJP has reclaimed the language used to insult them, transforming a weapon of humiliation into a badge of honour. They have used memes, witty slogans, and RTI petitions to build a case against the government. This is a deliberate and evidence-based movement, not just a “youth gone wild” narrative [citation:original text].

4. How has the Indian government responded to the CJP’s protests?

The government’s response has been a paradox. On one hand, it has engaged with the movement through meetings between Health Minister JP Nadda and CJP leaders. On the other hand, it has cracked down on protesters with brute force, using tear gas and lathi charges to disperse a peaceful march to Parliament. The police action has been widely condemned .

5. How does the author compare the CJP to historical movements and thinkers?

The author draws parallels between the CJP and Gandhi’s satyagraha, framing the movement as a battle for truth against institutional lies. The author also references Frantz Fanon’s observations on colonial language, Judith Butler’s work on reclaiming language, and Kafka’s The Metamorphosis to highlight the power of the CJP’s decision to own the insult. The author also connects the CJP to R.K. Laxman’s Common Man, who watched the republic’s grandees make fools of themselves .

The Oil Market’s Delicate Dance and the Dawn of AI Copyright Accountability

By Aditi Nayar
New Delhi, July 23, 2026

This week hasn’t started well for the world’s oil supply. Trump has cried vengeance for US soldiers killed in Iranian strikes, and Yemen’s Houthis have announced a blockade of Saudi shipping. That means the flow of West Asian oil via both the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea could be hit in the short term. The supply shock could be worse than what we saw during March-June [citation:original text]. Yet, instead of shooting up, oil prices cooled slightly on Tuesday [citation:original text]. And that’s thanks to backchannel diplomacy that hasn’t ceased amid US-Iran hostilities of the past fortnight [citation:original text].

It’s true that both sides have declared their ceasefire MoU from June is as good as dead, but efforts to salvage it are on. And if the market is right – it usually is because many billions of dollars are at stake – talk of a 10-day ceasefire to iron out differences can be taken seriously [citation:original text]. This is a story of two simultaneous forces reshaping our world: the geopolitics of energy and the new frontier of intellectual property law.

The Geopolitics of Oil: A Market Holds Its Breath

The global oil market is currently a study in contradictions, caught between the reality of escalating conflict and the hope of a diplomatic breakthrough. On one side, the situation is dire. The conflict in the Middle East has escalated dramatically, with the U.S. conducting a ninth straight night of attacks against Iran, while U.S. allies Kuwait and Bahrain have reported more Iranian strikes .

The strategic waterway, the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20% of the world’s oil supply flowed before the war, is now essentially a contested zone. Shipping traffic has slowed to a crawl, with vessel crossings dropping into the single digits as operators avoid the area due to escalating security risks . Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have even claimed responsibility for immobilizing two oil tankers in the Strait . The threat has now expanded beyond the Gulf. Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis announced they would impose a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, threatening oil shipments through the Red Sea as well . This opening of a second front is significant; Saudi Arabia has increasingly relied on its Red Sea port of Yanbu to sustain crude exports, shipping 4.6 million barrels per day through it in June .

Yet, despite these escalations, oil prices pulled back. Brent crude fell by over 1% to around $88 a barrel after touching a more than one-month high above $91 the day before . The reason for this calm is the market’s belief in a diplomatic solution. Reports emerged that mediators—including Pakistan, Egypt, and Qatar—have proposed a 10-day ceasefire between the US and Iran . The goal is to revive the June interim deal and reopen the Strait of Hormuz .

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson confirmed that the US has been sending messages via third-party intermediaries, and an Iranian official has said Tehran received a ceasefire proposal . A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Tehran had received a proposal for a ceasefire from mediators . The tone from both sides suggests a willingness to talk, even as they trade blows. Iran’s foreign minister has spoken of the wisdom of negotiating when you have made “battlefield and strategic gains” [citation:original text]. On the American side, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has affirmed the door to diplomacy is open, stating that the administration was open to dialogue, “but it has to be real” .

The Bigger Picture: A Lesson in Global Economics

The market’s reaction is a powerful reminder of the real-world stakes. As a previous analysis noted, “hope for the best and prepare for the worst” is the only rational approach [citation:original text]. The situation carries profound risks. The US strategic petroleum reserve is depleted, and China cannot curb its crude imports indefinitely [citation:original text]. Moreover, the world is not just facing a crude shortage. A crisis of refined fuels has become a global problem, which could push prices even higher [citation:original text]. Goldman Sachs has even warned that oil could touch $120 a barrel again in a worst-case scenario [citation:original text]. On the other hand, if peace prevails and the Strait of Hormuz is reopened, prices could fall below $70 before the year is out [citation:original text]. The immediate future depends on whether the two sides can walk back from the brink before the conflict causes irreversible damage to the global economy.

The Anthropic Ruling: A Watershed Moment for AI and Copyright

In a different arena, a landmark legal decision has just reshaped the relationship between artificial intelligence and creative work. A US federal judge has approved a $1.5 billion settlement in a class-action lawsuit against Anthropic . This is the first major settlement among the dozens of lawsuits brought against Big Tech companies over their use of copyrighted material to train AI models.

The case is a fascinating study in nuance. The court ruled that training AI on books can qualify as “fair use” under copyright law . This is a significant victory for AI companies, affirming their ability to learn from human knowledge. However, the court also found that Anthropic had acted unlawfully by saving more than seven million pirated books to a “central library” that would not necessarily be used for AI training . It was this act of mass piracy, not the training itself, that led to the record settlement. About 500,000 works are covered, and authors and publishers are expected to receive about $3,000 per work .

An Incomplete Victory for Creators

For decades, tech companies have scraped original creative works off the internet without permission or compensation [citation:original text]. The Anthropic settlement is a step toward fixing accountability and signalling to all companies that there is a cost to overriding creators’ rights [citation:original text]. However, it is not a final victory. The core issue of what constitutes copyright infringement versus fair use in AI training remains unresolved [citation:original text]. While many AI companies now have licensing agreements with publishers, the Anthropic settlement has highlighted the distinction between fair use and the storage of pirated material, but it hasn’t established a universal standard. Some authors and publishers opted out of the settlement to continue separate cases, meaning this debate is far from over .

Conclusion

The world is navigating two distinct but equally profound disruptions. The first is the volatility of an energy market held hostage by geopolitical conflict. The second is the collision of a new technological revolution, AI, with the old laws of intellectual property. The settlement against Anthropic is a step in the right direction, but the final destination is far from clear.

Q&A Section

1. Why did oil prices cool despite escalating US-Iran conflict?

Oil prices cooled due to market hopes for a diplomatic resolution. Reports that mediators had proposed a 10-day ceasefire between the US and Iran, and that the US had been sending messages via backchannels, led traders to price in the possibility of de-escalation and a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz .

2. What was the cause of the latest military escalation in the Middle East?

The escalation was triggered by the U.S. conducting a ninth straight night of attacks against Iran in retaliation for the deaths of several U.S. service members. Iran responded with strikes on U.S. allies like Kuwait and Bahrain .

3. Who are the mediators involved in the US-Iran ceasefire proposal?

Reports suggest that mediators include Pakistan, Egypt, and Qatar, who have proposed a 10-day ceasefire to salvage the June MoU and allow normal shipping to resume [citation:original text].

4. What was the $1.5 billion Anthropic settlement about and why is it significant?

The settlement resolved a lawsuit where authors accused Anthropic of using pirated books to train its AI chatbot, Claude. It is significant as the largest known copyright settlement in US history and the first major case among dozens of similar lawsuits against AI companies to reach a conclusion . However, it did not fully resolve the copyright infringement versus fair use debate.

5. What are the key risks and potential outcomes for the oil market?

The market faces a binary outcome. If diplomatic efforts succeed and the Strait of Hormuz is reopened, prices could fall below $70. If tensions persist or escalate further, a prolonged supply disruption could see oil prices rebound, with Goldman Sachs warning of a potential return to $120 a barrel [citation:original text].

A State Caught in the Regional Crossfire: Jordan’s Precarious Position Between Iran and the US

By Bhopinder Singh
New Delhi, July 23, 2026

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) attack on an American military base in Jordan, which killed at least two US soldiers, triggered another cycle of retaliation between Washington and Tehran. Iranian military sites were subsequently targeted, while Jordanian forces reported intercepting additional Iranian missiles and drones. The episode suggested that Jordan, despite efforts to remain insulated from regional conflicts, was being drawn deeper into the widening confrontation between Iran and the United States [citation:original text].

This was not the first time Jordan found itself caught in the crossfire. In April 2024, during Iran’s first direct large-scale attack on Israel, the Jordanian Air Force intercepted and destroyed Iranian drones and missiles passing through its airspace towards Israel. Tehran viewed the action as assistance to Israel, reinforcing its suspicion of Amman’s strategic alignment [citation:original text].

Yet Iran’s historical hostility towards Jordan has been primarily strategic rather than ideological or sectarian. Jordan is targeted less because of its domestic character and more because of its geography, alliances and role in the regional security architecture. Positioned between Iran’s sphere of influence and Israel, closely aligned with the United States, and central to Western security arrangements, Jordan occupies a sensitive position in the Middle Eastern balance of power [citation:original text].

A Kingdom of Contradictions: Demographics and Alliances

This alignment is notable given Jordan’s demographic complexity. An estimated 50-60 per cent of Jordan’s population is of Palestinian origin, including prominent figures such as Queen Rania, wife of King Abdullah II, whose family roots are Palestinian. Despite this demographic reality and widespread public sympathy for the Palestinian cause, the Jordanian state has continued to prioritise strategic ties with Washington and maintain a cautious security relationship with Israel [citation:original text].

This is a fundamental contradiction at the heart of Jordanian statecraft. The Hashemite Kingdom is one of the few Arab states that has normalised relations with Israel, signing a peace treaty in 1994. It has also maintained a robust security and intelligence partnership with the United States and the UK for decades. Yet, its population is overwhelmingly pro-Palestinian and deeply critical of Israeli policies. This puts the monarchy in a difficult position: maintaining its strategic alliances while placating a populace that opposes them.

Jordan’s survival as a state has depended on this balancing act. The monarchy, with its roots in the Hashemite dynasty, has used its alliances to secure foreign aid and military backing, which has been essential to its economic survival. The US has been a major provider of aid, amounting to billions of dollars over the decades. At the same time, the monarchy has sought to maintain its legitimacy among its citizens by supporting the Palestinian cause diplomatically, while simultaneously cooperating with Israel on security.

The Revolutionary Break: 1979 and the Shift in Relations

The relationship between Jordan and Iran has evolved through decades of shifting alliances, ideological competition and competing visions for the Middle East. Although the two countries have maintained diplomatic relations and experienced periods of limited engagement, their ties have largely been defined by mistrust, particularly since the Iranian Revolution of 1979 [citation:original text].

Before the revolution, relations were considerably warmer. Both Jordan and Iran were monarchies, ie, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the Pahlavi monarchy of Iran. Both were aligned with the West and shared a common interest in containing Soviet influence and Arab nationalism. However, the revolution changed everything. The new Islamic Republic under Ayatollah Khomeini pursued a foreign policy that was overtly anti-American and anti-Zionist, and sought to export its revolutionary ideology across the region.

The new Iranian regime viewed conservative Arab monarchies like Jordan with suspicion. Jordan was seen as a US client state, and its peace treaty with Israel made it a prime target for Iranian criticism. Iran’s vision of a new regional order, one that would upend the existing power structures and replace them with Islamic governance, was diametrically opposed to Jordan’s interests.

The “Shia Crescent”: A Threat Emerges

Relations remained restrained in subsequent quarters, but tensions intensified after the 2003 US invasion of Iraq. The removal of Saddam Hussein allowed Iran to expand its influence among Iraq’s Shia political parties and armed groups. Jordan feared that Iranian influence was extending through Iraq into Syria and Lebanon, creating a continuous arc of political and military influence across the region [citation:original text].

In 2004, King Abdullah II warned of a potential “Shia crescent” stretching from Iran through Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. The phrase reflected Jordanian concerns about Iran-backed networks following the collapse of Iraq’s Baathist regime. Critics argued that the concept overstated sectarian divisions, while supporters viewed it as an early recognition of Iran’s growing regional footprint [citation:original text]. This concept was particularly threatening to Jordan because it described the emergence of a Shia-dominated bloc that would encircle Jordan and challenge its Sunni monarchy.

The Syrian civil war after 2011 further sharpened these differences. Iran became a principal supporter of Bashar al-Assad’s government, providing military, financial and political backing. Jordan, sharing a border with Syria, became increasingly concerned about instability, Iranian-aligned militias near its territory and cross-border trafficking networks. These concerns strengthened Jordan’s reliance on security cooperation with Western and Arab partners [citation:original text].

The Present Crossfire

Today, Jordan finds itself in the crossfire of the US-Iran conflict in an even more direct way. The recent IRGC attack on the US base at Tower 22 in Jordan was a major escalation. The attack killed three US service members and injured dozens more, prompting the US to launch retaliatory strikes. Jordan, while not directly involved in the initial attack, was forced to respond by intercepting Iranian missiles and drones. It has also been reported that Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have been operating inside Jordan for years, recruiting militants to carry out attacks in Israel and the West Bank .

The presence of Iranian intelligence operatives on Jordanian soil is a major security concern for the monarchy. In 2024, Jordan arrested a suspected Iranian-linked drug smuggler and also discovered a significant weapons cache in the country . A report from the Jordanian General Intelligence Department detailed Iran’s ongoing efforts to weaponize the border area between Jordan and the West Bank . These activities are a direct challenge to Jordanian sovereignty and a sign that Iran views the kingdom as a legitimate battleground in its proxy war with Israel.

Conclusion

The history of Jordan-Iran relations reflects a wider pattern in Middle Eastern politics: cooperation when interests converge, but rivalry when competing visions of regional order collide . Jordan’s dilemma is a classic case of a small state caught between great powers and regional rivals. Its geography makes it a frontline state. Its demographics make its alliances a source of internal tension. Its security depends on its partnerships with the US, but its stability is threatened by a conflict that its US ally has helped ignite. Jordan’s future will depend on its ability to continue its delicate balancing act, a task that grows more difficult with each passing day.

Q&A Section

1. Why does Iran view Jordan with strategic hostility rather than ideological or sectarian animosity?

Iran’s hostility toward Jordan is primarily driven by strategic factors: Jordan’s geography, its close alignment with the United States, its peace treaty with Israel, and its role in the US-led regional security architecture . Jordan is a key US ally in the region, hosts American military bases and intelligence facilities, and has a long history of cooperation with Western powers. This makes it a target for Iran’s efforts to counter US influence in the Middle East.

2. What is the demographic and political contradiction facing Jordan?

Jordan’s population is estimated to be 50-60% Palestinian origin, and public sentiment is strongly pro-Palestinian. However, the Jordanian state has maintained a peace treaty with Israel and a close security partnership with the US . This puts the monarchy in a difficult position, as it must balance its strategic alliances with the will of its people, who largely oppose these ties.

3. How did the 1979 Iranian Revolution change Jordan-Iran relations?

Before the revolution, both Jordan and Iran were conservative monarchies aligned with the West. The revolution turned Iran into an anti-American, anti-Zionist state seeking to export its revolutionary ideology, which directly challenged the legitimacy of conservative Arab monarchies like Jordan and their alliances with the US . This ideological shift created deep mistrust that has persisted for decades .

4. What is the “Shia crescent” and why did Jordan view it as a threat?

The “Shia crescent” was a term coined by Jordan’s King Abdullah II in 2004 to describe a potential arc of Iranian influence stretching from Iran through Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon . Jordan viewed this as a threat because it described the emergence of a Shia-dominated bloc that would encircle Jordan and challenge its Sunni monarchy . Iran’s expanding influence, particularly through its support of Shia militias, was seen as a direct threat to Jordan’s security and regional position .

5. How has the Syrian civil war impacted Jordan-Iran tensions?

The Syrian civil war brought Iran and Jordan into even sharper conflict. Iran became the principal supporter of Bashar al-Assad, while Jordan, sharing a border with Syria, feared instability and the growth of Iranian-backed militias near its territory . This led Jordan to strengthen its security cooperation with the US and its Arab partners, deepening the strategic divide with Iran .

The Quiet Return of Spiritual Seeking

By Sitender Sehrawat
New Delhi, July 23, 2026

Mankind seeks what lies at its core, but mostly looks elsewhere — in things, material goods and trends. But there’s a shift happening now. View it from the surface and it makes no sense. Look deeper and it does. The shift is in how we seek connection, peace and meaning. The spiritual seeking, the longing to meet yourself, your creator and something beyond, is not confined to spiritual centres. People are losing trust in the endless cycle of quick fixes, wellness gadgets and self-optimisation frameworks. They’re asking fundamentally different questions about what they actually crave, not what the market tells them they should want [citation:original text].

For many, the search is led by genuine longing from within. But it will shift; what is natural and authentic eventually endures [citation:original text].

The False Promise of the Wellness Industry

For decades, the self-help, personal development and wellness industry promised that better outcomes were just three steps, four weeks or one purchase away. Meditation apps that fit into lunch breaks. Productivity systems that promised to unlock peace and clarity. Weekend transformation programmes that promised enlightenment in condensed form. The promise was always the same: optimise yourself relentlessly and you’ll feel better. Solve yourself through discipline and framework, and happiness will follow as a reward. Of course, it didn’t work. Or rather, it worked just enough to feel like your fault when it failed [citation:original text].

The wellness industry has become a multi-trillion-dollar global behemoth, capitalising on the very anxieties it claims to solve. The recurring subscriptions and retreat visits were the subtle ask beneath it all. The goalpost always moved. Better sleep didn’t solve loneliness. More productivity didn’t generate actual meaning. Workplace loneliness became the leading cause of people leaving their jobs because belonging is inherently embedded in us. People pushed forward, hoping the next thing would work; then came AI, restoring false hope and pushing them further into the cycle. Optimisation left people sharper but profoundly emptier, more efficient at being hollow [citation:original text].

The Limits of Optimisation

The rise of the “quantified self” movement, with its emphasis on tracking everything from steps to sleep to heart rate variability, was supposed to unlock human potential. Instead, it has created a generation of hyper-aware individuals who are acutely conscious of their every biological function but are fundamentally disconnected from their inner selves. The self-help industry often promises a fix, a destination, a formula. It assumes that the self is a problem that can be solved rather than a mystery to be explored.

This approach is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of human nature. It treats the self as a machine that can be optimized, with the right algorithms and inputs. However, the experience of being human is not a problem to be solved. It is a mystery to be lived. As psychologist Carl Jung observed, “The greatest and most important problems of life are all fundamentally insoluble. They can never be solved, but only outgrown.”

The Emerging Shift

What’s emerging now is structurally different. People aren’t abandoning the search for depth; they’re abandoning the illusion that depth arrives through applications and 30-day challenges. They’re discovering that real transformation requires time, years sometimes. It comes from deep layers of being, not through spiritual programmes promising mystical self-upgrades that inevitably spiral back down. Real change happens in silence, not through constant content consumption. Real stillness cannot be rushed, manufactured or optimised. It is experienced directly, from your own search within [citation:original text].

The entire economy of attention is exhausting itself. In India and globally, a growing category has learned to distrust “Enlightenment in 7 days” promises. They can smell the difference between genuine teaching and selling. Between authentic transmission and therapeutic rebranding. They know when they’re being offered actual depth versus another consumable designed for the market. A cultural literacy is returning [citation:original text].

A 2025 Pew Research Center report found that 57% of Americans say they have a “deep sense of spiritual well-being and peace,” up from 52% a decade ago . This is a significant increase, suggesting a genuine hunger for a more authentic spiritual experience. This is not confined to the U.S. Globally, there’s a growing interest in traditional contemplative practices—from indigenous wisdom to ancient philosophical traditions.

The Return to Timeless Practices

This is why people who have tried everything are now seeking actual timeless traditions — practices that have survived across centuries, not repackaged versions marketed for quick results. Why they’re spending time in silence without measuring progress. Why they’re drawn to spaces where nothing is being sold, nothing optimised, nothing measured for engagement [citation:original text].

The rise of silent retreats, for instance, is a powerful indicator of this shift. People are actively seeking spaces to disconnect from the noise and reconnect with themselves. They are looking for authenticity, not another product. The world has been chasing more: more money, more success, more followers, more likes, more efficiency. But underneath all that acceleration, millions are beginning to feel the weight of all that movement without direction—a deep, quiet longing for stillness and meaning.

They are discovering that real meaning comes from within, not from external achievements. As the philosopher Blaise Pascal wrote, “All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.”

Conclusion

What they’re seeking is not faster results, but spaces where depth unfolds at its own pace. The return isn’t to spirituality as a concept; it’s to slowness as a fundamental mode of being. Across India and globally, people are quietly stepping away from the optimisation treadmill, not to find a better version of themselves, but to return to themselves [citation:original text].

The search for connection, for peace, for something beyond the material is a fundamental human need. It is the core of all religions, all philosophies, all art. For a time, the market co-opted this need, offering shortcuts and quick fixes. But the market is now hitting its limits. People are learning to trust their own experience over the promises of the market. The return of spiritual seeking is a sign of hope—a sign that we are beginning to remember who we really are.

Q&A Section

1. What are the limitations of the wellness and self-help industry?

The wellness industry has overpromised and underdelivered. It has tried to package human transformation into step-by-step systems and quick fixes, leading to a cycle of false hope and disappointment. Many people found that they were “sharper but profoundly emptier, more efficient at being hollow” . The industry’s reliance on “self-optimisation” treats the self as a problem to be solved rather than a mystery to be explored. The promises of better outcomes through applications and programmes have failed to address deeper feelings of loneliness and a lack of meaning [citation:original text].

2. What is the “quiet return of spiritual seeking” described in the article?

The article describes a growing movement where people are turning away from superficial, market-driven “quick fixes” and seeking deeper, more authentic experiences. This involves a return to timeless spiritual practices that have survived for centuries. People are increasingly drawn to silence, slowness, and spaces where nothing is being sold or optimised. They are moving away from self-optimisation and toward the search for genuine meaning and connection [citation:original text].

3. What are the signs of this shift in spiritual seeking?

Signs include a growing distrust of “Enlightenment in 7 days” promises; a return to contemplative practices such as silent retreats; and an attraction to spaces where nothing is being sold. People are also engaging with traditional wisdom traditions (such as indigenous and ancient philosophies). There’s a growing cultural literacy that can differentiate between genuine teaching and a marketing ploy [citation:original text].

4. How has the rise of technology affected the search for meaning?

The self-help industry, along with the rise of the “quantified self” movement, was supposed to improve lives. However, it has created a generation of hyper-aware individuals who are disconnected from their inner selves. The constant consumption of content and the focus on optimisation have left people feeling “efficient at being hollow.” The attention economy has exhausted itself, leading people to seek out silence and spaces away from technology [citation:original text].

5. What is the author’s conclusion about the path to genuine transformation?

The author concludes that genuine transformation cannot be rushed, manufactured, or optimized. It requires time, stillness, and silence. Real change happens through a deeper engagement with one’s own inner world, not through following a self-help guide. The real return is not to spirituality as a concept, but to slowness and a fundamental mode of being in which depth unfolds at its own pace [citation:original text].

The CJP Protest: Democracy, Dissent and the Rule of Law

By Gurinder Singh Dhillon
New Delhi, July 23, 2026

The developments at Jantar Mantar and the proposed march towards the Parliament of India once again bring into focus a constitutional question that every mature democracy must repeatedly answer: How should a democratic State balance the fundamental right to protest with its equally important obligation to maintain public order? 

The concerns raised by students regarding the NEET examination deserve serious attention. Educational examinations shape the future of millions of young Indians, and any perception of unfairness naturally creates anxiety and distrust. Instead of viewing such concerns as merely a law-and-order issue, the Government should consider constituting a Parliamentary Committee to examine the shortcomings and recommend institutional reforms that inspire greater public confidence .

Peaceful protest is not merely permitted under the Constitution; it is one of democracy’s greatest strengths. Citizens must have adequate space to express disagreement with government policies and administrative decisions. However, every democratic right carries a corresponding constitutional responsibility. A protest march towards Parliament is entirely legitimate, provided it does not obstruct the functioning of Parliament or seek to diminish the dignity of one of the Republic’s highest constitutional institutions .

The Constitutional Framework for Protest

The Constitution of India does not explicitly mention a standalone “Right to Protest.” Still, the Supreme Court has repeatedly held that it is an implicit Fundamental Right derived from Article 19: Article 19(1)(a) guarantees the Freedom of Speech and Expression, enabling citizens to publicly express dissent and communicate grievances; and Article 19(1)(b) guarantees the right to Assemble Peaceably and Without Arms, laying the legal foundation for rallies and public meetings .

This right is not absolute. Under Article 19(2) and Article 19(3), the State can impose reasonable restrictions in the interest of the sovereignty and integrity of India, security of the State, public order, decency, or morality and preventing incitement to an offence or causing public nuisance . Courts have consistently held that the right to peacefully protest is a constitutional right and should not be frustrated by the State by exercising its executive or legislative powers and passing orders or taking action in the name of reasonable restrictions . The Supreme Court has also clarified that the State’s fear that a protest could lead to unrest must be based on an imminent reality rather than a distant possibility—if such reasoning were accepted, virtually any protest could be banned on speculation that “something might go wrong,” rendering the fundamental right to protest nugatory .

The limitation imposed in the interests of public order must have a proximate connection or nexus with public order, not one far-fetched, hypothetical, or too remote in the chain of its relation with public order . The right of the protestors must also be weighed against the right of the commuters, which is why public roads and public areas cannot be occupied forever by an indeterminable number of people .

The Cockroach Janta Party Movement

The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) began as a satirical online protest, born after a remark by India’s chief justice comparing sections of unemployed young people to “cockroaches” . The movement took its name from this comment, which had drawn widespread criticism . Within days, the movement amassed millions of followers on social media . The CJP’s demands include the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and strict laws to stop examination paper leaks .

The movement gained fresh momentum after activist Sonam Wangchuk, who had been on a hunger strike in support of the protest, was forcibly moved to a hospital by police on the 21st day of his fast . On July 20, thousands of CJP supporters, defying a police ban, took to the streets of Delhi to march to Parliament, demanding accountability . Police blocked the march with barricades, leading to scuffles as protesters tried to push through . Several demonstrators were injured in baton-charges . The police action in Delhi was part of a wider pattern of responses to the protests, with similar events occurring in other states. In Chennai, for instance, 180 student protesters were detained for demonstrations in solidarity with the CJP .

The contrast between the protest site and the security outside was striking. Young people draped in Indian flags queued for food, painted placards and posed for photographs, while rows of police and paramilitary personnel sealed every road to parliament around them . The CJP initially drew support largely online before broadening its appeal and drawing the support of some opposition parties . The movement also garnered support from across the country, with the Jammu and Kashmir Students Association extending its “unequivocal support” to the students and youth participating in the CJP-led protest, condemning the “excessive and disproportionate use of force by the Delhi Police against peaceful demonstrators” .

The Police Action: A Question of Balance

During my years in policing, I learned that most peaceful protests do not fail because of the protesters or the police; they fail when communication between the two breaks down. The objective of democratic policing is not merely to enforce the law but to facilitate the lawful exercise of constitutional rights while preserving public order .

The available visuals suggest that while the Delhi Police handled a challenging situation, there remains room for improvement in operational planning. It is not publicly clear whether a structured negotiation regarding routes, timings and restrictions had been concluded with the protest leadership before the march commenced. Such advance coordination often prevents unnecessary confrontation and builds confidence between citizens and law-enforcement agencies . Modern crowd management depends not merely upon numbers but upon planning, communication, intelligence gathering and calibrated responses. Visible preparedness itself often reduces the possibility of confrontation .

The detention of Sonam Wangchuk for medical intervention has also generated public debate. Similar preventive interventions have been recognised by constitutional courts under appropriate circumstances. In this instance, the Delhi High Court’s directions are available on record. Comparable police interventions have occurred in several States whenever immediate medical or humanitarian concerns arose .

The police action appears to have had an unintended consequence. As one observer noted, “The Parliament march may have ended with barricades, tear gas and lathis. Yet at Jantar Mantar, many protesters believe the crackdown achieved precisely what it was meant to prevent. Rather than dispersing the movement, it gave it a new rallying cry” . Many of those arriving at Jantar Mantar said they had not participated in the protest earlier; they came because of what they had watched on their phone screens over the past two days . The videos from July 20 of Delhi Police lathi-charging protesters and firing tear gas shells during the CJP’s march towards Parliament spread rapidly across social media, prompting people from various states to travel to the capital . This suggests that the response to the protest has become, in itself, a driver of further mobilization.

The Government’s Response and the Way Forward

Now that dialogue between the protest representatives and the Union Government has commenced, responsibility equally shifts to the leadership of the movement. Genuine democratic protests can quickly lose legitimacy if mischievous elements, political opportunists or those seeking confrontation succeed in hijacking the movement. Maintaining discipline is, therefore, as important as articulating demands . Protest leadership carries responsibilities that extend beyond mobilising public opinion. Organisers must ensure that participants remain peaceful and that no individual or group crosses constitutional or legal boundaries, resulting in violence or disruption of public order .

The Government, on its part, should respond to genuine public grievances without unnecessary delay. Administrative bottlenecks and institutional shortcomings should never be allowed to accumulate to the point where young citizens lose confidence in public institutions. The Ministry of Home Affairs and the Delhi Police should continue refining a long-term strategy that facilitates peaceful democratic protests while ensuring public order with the minimum necessary use of force .

India’s Generation Z deserves appreciation. They are among the country’s most educated and aware generations. Their energy, innovation and constitutional awareness can become a tremendous democratic strength when channelled peacefully and responsibly . Finally, accountability must exist at every level. Government departments responsible for educational administration should ensure that legitimate concerns are addressed within a reasonable timeframe. The Union Education Minister must continue responding to these issues with maturity, fairness and transparency, ensuring that every decision is guided by merit, facts and the rule of law .

A confident democracy is not measured by the absence of protests. It is measured by its ability to accommodate dissent while preserving public order, respecting constitutional institutions and ensuring that both the Government and its citizens remain equally accountable to the Constitution .

Q&A Section

1. Is the right to protest a fundamental right in India?

While the Constitution of India does not explicitly mention a standalone “Right to Protest,” the Supreme Court has repeatedly held that it is an implicit Fundamental Right derived from Article 19. Article 19(1)(a) guarantees the Freedom of Speech and Expression, and Article 19(1)(b) guarantees the right to Assemble Peaceably and Without Arms . This right can be traced to the broader framework of the Constitution, which protects the rights of free speech and assembly, enabling citizens to voice their dissent and hold institutions accountable .

2. Can the government impose restrictions on the right to protest?

Yes. Under Article 19(2) and Article 19(3), the State can impose reasonable restrictions on these freedoms in the interest of the sovereignty and integrity of India, security of the State, public order, decency, morality, or to prevent incitement to an offence or public nuisance . Courts have held that the right to peacefully protest should not be frustrated by the State by passing orders or taking action in the name of reasonable restrictions . However, restrictions must have a legal basis and must be proportionate; a blanket ban on protests or action taken merely because a demonstration is politically inconvenient can be challenged before courts .

3. What were the demands of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest?

The CJP’s demands included the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, strict laws to stop examination paper leaks, examination reforms, and compensation for families of students who died by suicide after alleged exam irregularities . The movement, which began as a satirical protest, quickly evolved into a nationwide youth-led movement focused on exam leaks, unemployment and government accountability .

4. Why did the CJP protest gain momentum after July 20?

The July 20 protest saw police use tear gas and batons to disperse thousands of students marching to Parliament . Video of police beating protesters and dragging demonstrators away spread quickly on social media, fueling public outrage . Many who had not participated earlier came to Jantar Mantar after seeing these videos . Rather than dispersing the movement, the crackdown gave it a new rallying cry . As one protester stated, “If the government thinks that doing this with Gen Z, they can stop us, then that won’t happen” .

5. What is the constitutional principle regarding peaceful protest and public order?

A confident democracy is not measured by the absence of protests but by its ability to accommodate dissent while preserving public order, respecting constitutional institutions and ensuring that both the Government and its citizens remain equally accountable to the Constitution . The objective of democratic policing is to facilitate the lawful exercise of constitutional rights while preserving public order . Democratic policing succeeds through communication and preparation far more than through coercion .

Nationalisation Nostalgia: Balancing Market Realities and Public Promise

By Aditi Nayar
New Delhi, July 23, 2026

Nearly six decades ago, India experienced a significant transformation in its banking sector when the government nationalised 14 major private commercial banks. This was immediately followed by the Lead Bank Scheme and the introduction of priority sector lending. The move aimed to democratise banking and extend credit to the unbanked, with these banks then accounting for about 85 per cent of the country’s deposits .

A newly independent nation needed to align its financial architecture with nation-building, and this laid the foundation for what is now popularly known as financial inclusion. A second round of nationalisation in the 1980s paved the way for the next round of initiatives, such as stricter Priority Sector Lending (PSL) targets, driving the expansion of bank branches and credit into rural areas .

As India advances towards its Viksit Bharat 2047 vision, the paradigm has shifted again, with a growing need for larger, globally competitive banks that can lead not only in financing but also in technology. This has reignited the debate over whether the government should continue holding stakes in banks or allow market forces to drive their growth, scale and competitiveness.

The Last Mile… and the Unseen Burden

While banks worldwide are rapidly adopting AI, the reality in a transitional economy like India is that the physical interface remains indispensable. With over 60 per cent of the population living in rural areas, routine payments and peer-to-peer transfers can be digitised, but complex credit decisions — such as crop loans, micro-business financing and retail credit for rural families — still require human judgement, local knowledge and face-to-face engagement.

The heavy lifting in these segments continues to be done by public sector banks. Until other lenders, including small finance banks and regional rural banks, achieve meaningful scale, there remains a case for continued government ownership to ensure sustained focus on these priority areas. This becomes even more evident during crises such as the ongoing West Asia conflict, when the government relies on banks to roll out support measures like the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS), largely implemented through public sector banks . Therefore, any decision on bank disinvestment should be calibrated rather than driven primarily by the objective of raising revenues to bridge the fiscal gap.

Small steps, bigger gains… and a Remarkable Turnaround

From taking banking to the remotest parts of the country and bringing over a billion people into the formal financial system to stabilising the economy during the COVID-19 pandemic and executing massive exercises such as demonetisation, the contribution of public sector banks remains unparalleled globally. The numbers tell a story of resilience. In FY 2024-25 alone, PSBs recorded a net profit of ₹1.78 lakh crore, a testament to the government’s “4R” strategy of Recognition, Resolution, Recapitalisation, and Reforms . Their Gross Non-Performing Assets (GNPA) ratio has dropped to 2.31%, a significant recovery from the peak of 14.58% in March 2018 . This financial health is critical for supporting India’s ambitious Viksit Bharat agenda.

Today, the banking sector faces multiple challenges, including mobilising low-cost deposits, retaining corporate borrowers who are increasingly turning to capital markets and direct debt instruments, and competing with unregulated digital lending apps that often rely on predatory lending practices and coercive recovery methods. At the same time, banks must modernise legacy systems and strengthen their ability to detect and respond to increasingly sophisticated, AI-driven cybersecurity threats . The RBI has repeatedly emphasised the need for banks to strengthen governance standards, risk management practices, and compliance culture to navigate these challenges .

Small steps, bigger gains… and the Consolidation Conundrum

As the sector evolves, the focus should shift towards another round of structural mergers and amalgamations among public sector banks to improve cost efficiencies and achieve greater scale. The government has already floated the idea of a high-level committee to review the banking sector in alignment with the Viksit Bharat vision . The vision is to create fewer, larger banks with sufficient balance sheet strength to finance long-gestation infrastructure projects . Reports suggest a potential plan to reduce the number of PSBs from 12 to as few as four major entities, with smaller banks like Indian Overseas Bank, Central Bank of India, and Bank of Maharashtra being absorbed by larger lenders like State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, or Bank of Baroda .

However, such consolidation must be guided by a progressive and compassionate HR framework that safeguards the interests of employees and other stakeholders of the acquirer and acquired banks. Past experiences with PSB mergers have shown that while they improve balance-sheet stability and resilience, they do not automatically translate into immediate efficiency or profitability gains . Studies indicate that post-merger efficiency gains were limited, and the cost-to-income ratios did not fall as expected . The blending of different organisational cultures, consolidation of technology systems, and management of human resources without disrupting customer service are significant challenges that require careful handling .

Conclusion

Bank nationalisation was never an end in itself; it was a response to the needs of its time. Today, India’s banking sector stands at another inflection point, where the challenge is to balance financial inclusion with global competitiveness .

Rather than pursuing indiscriminate privatisation, policy should focus on creating stronger, technologically advanced and well-governed banks that continue to serve national priorities while competing effectively in global markets. Carefully calibrated consolidation, continued investment in digital capabilities and a people-centric transition for employees can ensure that the banking system remains resilient, inclusive and capable of supporting India’s ambition of becoming a developed nation by 2047.

Q&A Section

1. What were the main objectives of the 1969 and 1980 bank nationalisations?

The nationalisations aimed to democratise banking and align the financial system with the needs of a developing nation. The key objectives were to extend credit to the unbanked, especially in rural areas; to ensure that banks served national policy objectives; and to break the control of a few industrial houses over the banking system . This led to the introduction of priority sector lending and the expansion of bank branches across the country .

2. What is the current performance of Public Sector Banks (PSBs) in India?

PSBs have demonstrated a remarkable turnaround. In FY 2024-25, they recorded a record net profit of ₹1.78 lakh crore. Their Gross Non-Performing Assets (GNPA) ratio has declined to 2.31%, and their Capital to Risk (Weighted) Assets Ratio (CRAR) is strong at 16.15%, well above the regulatory requirement . They have also played a key role in expanding financial inclusion through schemes like Jan Dhan Yojana .

3. Why is there a debate about further consolidation or privatisation of PSBs?

The debate stems from the need to create globally competitive banks with sufficient scale to finance India’s large infrastructure projects and support the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision. There is a push to reduce the number of PSBs from 12 to a few large entities to improve efficiency and capital utilisation. However, there is also a counter-argument that privatisation or consolidation could reduce outreach and that mergers without governance reforms may not yield significant efficiency gains .

4. What are the main challenges facing the banking sector today?

Key challenges include mobilising low-cost deposits to support credit growth, retaining corporate borrowers who are turning to capital markets for funding, and competing with unregulated digital lending apps . Banks also face significant challenges in modernising legacy systems and protecting against sophisticated, AI-driven cybersecurity threats . Regulators have stressed the importance of strengthening governance and risk management standards .

5. What is the likely path for future PSB mergers, and what are the risks?

The government is reportedly considering a significant consolidation plan that could merge smaller banks into larger entities like SBI, PNB, and Bank of Baroda, potentially reducing the number of PSBs to four . While these mergers aim to improve scale and resilience, past experience shows risks such as integration difficulties, loss of outreach, employee morale issues, and temporary declines in efficiency . The success of future mergers will depend on careful planning, governance reforms, and a people-centric approach to managing the transition .