History doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes. When the war in West Asia intensified in February 2026, the rhyme was not hard to find. Rising crude oil prices expanded India's trade deficits. Foreign portfolio investors were leaving the market. And the rupee had dropped approximately 3.9 percent against the U.S. Dollar between February 27th and June 22nd 2026.
Policy UpdateAshi Verma Background:- India has the largest population in the world, and it continues to grow. A significant part of this population consists of senior citizens aged 60 and above. Elderly people often face many challenges in their daily…
Policy UpdateSneha Kohli Background The India Semiconductor Mission, launched in 2021 aims to develop a strong semiconductor ecosystem for enhancing India’s position in the global electronics manufacturing and design hub. The successful implementation of the first phase has led to…
The Account Aggregator (AA) framework is a Reserve Bank of India (RBI)-regulated system that lets individuals and businesses share their financial data across institutions through explicit, revocable digital consent, rather than routing it through banks and lenders that hold it in custody. Its legal basis goes back to September 2016, when the RBI issued the Master Direction on Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) – Account Aggregator (Reserve Bank) Directions, creating an entirely new class of NBFC whose only permitted business is consent-based data retrieval and transfer. It took another five years of pilot testing before the system went live commercially on September 2, 2021.
Since the introduction of Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), India's female labour force participation rate (LFPR) has risen sharply from 23.3 per cent in 2017-18 to 41.7 per cent by 2023-24. LFPR counts women who are either working or actively looking for work. This article looks at a related but different number: the Worker Population Ratio (WPR), which counts only women who are actually employed. WPR is the number PLFS publishes broken down by education level, and it answers the question that matters most for policy, not whether a woman is looking for work, but whether she has found it.
The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) is characterized by a unique and complex topography, ranging from the high-altitude Himalayan valleys to the Pir Panjal range. While geographically distinct, this position makes the region exceptionally vulnerable to diverse natural and human-induced hazards. The territory is classified primarily under Seismic Zones IV and V, signifying a very high risk of high-intensity earthquakes. Historically, J&K has been scarred by devastating events, including the 2005 Waltengu Nad snowstorm that claimed over 175 lives, the October 2005 earthquake that killed approximately 1,350 people in the UT, and the September 2014 floods, which resulted in nearly 460 deaths and billions of dollars in infrastructure damage (NOAA).
Policy UpdateSairaj Patil Background Prior to the launch of the Skill India Digital Hub (SIDH), India’s skilling ecosystem suffered from significant fragmentation. Training, assessment, certification, and job-matching services were spread across separate schemes and portals, including the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal…