Category Economy and Infrastructure

Rare

Mining Power: China, the US, and the Fight for Rare Earth Dominance

Beijing’s new export curbs on rare earths and other tech materials mark a new phase in its bid to weaponize its supply dominance. As Xi tightens control over inputs critical to the US and Trump threatens China with a 100% extra tariff, who will blink first?

Beijing is tightening its clamps on components that are integral to technology supply chains. Lithium batteries and related material, artificial diamonds that have industrial uses and rare earths like holmium, erbium, thulium, europium and ytterbium have been put on China’s export-control list.

climate

Greening India’s Future: Building Climate-Resilient Cities (2025)

India is experiencing rapid urbanization, with over 35% of its population now residing in cities—a figure projected to reach 40% by 2035. While urban growth drives economic development, it has also intensified ecological stress, reducing green cover and increasing vulnerabilities to climate change.

urban

India’s New Urban Landscape: Capital, Surplus Labour, and the Persistence of Poverty

The story of urbanisation in the Global South – and particularly in India – is not one of industrial expansion or prosperity. It is a story of pauperisation. Cities today are swelling not because factories are hiring, but because the countryside is expelling. This new urbanisation is driven by desperation rather than development – by the push of agrarian collapse, not the pull of industrial promise.

Political Flux and Economic Headwinds: Reading the CCP’s Fourth Plenum

Political Flux and Economic Headwinds: Reading the CCP’s Fourth Plenum

The much-delayed Fourth Plenum of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee met in Beijing from October 20-23. Of the seven plenary sessions during a CCP congress, the fourth typically focuses on strengthening the party and governance. At this meeting, the formulation of the 15th Five-Year Plan for 2026–2030, personnel appointments and policy changes took precedence over other matters.

Transit-oriented Development can curb India's urban dysfunctions by integrating land use with transport, but fragmented governance, weak execution, and poor planning hinder its transformative potential.

Transit-Oriented Development in India: Why Practice Lags Behind Policy

Transit-oriented Development can curb India's urban dysfunctions by integrating land use with transport, but fragmented governance, weak execution, and poor planning hinder its transformative potential.

LIC

Why LIC’s Bet on Adani Has Sparked Public Anger

It was excellent journalism on the part of Pranshu Verma and Ravi Nair to do the Washington Post story on the government having persuaded LIC to invest in Adani at a time when global investors were hesitant in the wake of an American case against Adani for having bribed officials in India and for having raised funds from American investors on false pretences. Kudos to the two, and to WaPo for publishing the story that Indian publications would have been reluctant to.

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