IPA Staff
16505 stories by IPA Staff
Worldwide Rise In Extreme Inequality Is The Hallmark Of Neoliberalism
By Sanjay Roy Extreme inequality in terms of income, wealth, gender and regions has become the hallmark of neoliberalism. Fewer than 60,000 multi-millionaires who are the top 0.001 per cent wealthiest of the world possess three times the wealth of half of humanity. Their share has grown over the...
Honouring Punjab Boy Sharvan Singh, A Bearer Of True Patriotism
By Jag Mohan Thaken History repeats itself; but a few are fortunate to get the recognition. The spiritual world, especially the Sikh world, is proud of the act of kindness, humility and service to mankind exemplified by Bhai Kanhaiya Ji, who is widely known for his water seva during...
Radio Ceylon Turns 100: One Of Indian Popular Music’s Oldest Medium
By Tirthankar Mitra One of world’s oldest broadcasters, Radio Ceylon, has turned 100. It arrived decades before television when radio was a novelty and Radio Ceylon started officially broadcasting from December 16, 1925. Radio Ceylon may seem an aberration today; after all, Ceylon is Sri Lanka. But the British-era...
Consolidation In Public Sector Banks Likely To Gain Pace In 2026
NEW DELHI: Consolidation in public sector banks is expected to gain momentum in the coming year, as the government has expressed its desire to have more big, world-class banks in the country to fuel the next phase of growth for Viksit Bharat by 2047. Last month, Finance Minister Nirmala...
Small Business Credit Exposure Rises 16% To ₹46 Trillion: CRIF-SIDBI Report
MUMBAI: India’s aggregate small business credit exposure rose 16.2 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to ₹46 trillion as on September 30, from ₹39.6 trillion a year earlier. The growth rate has moderated from the previous quarter’s 19.3 per cent Y-o-Y, possibly reflecting more cautious underwriting and seasonal variations. Comprehensive policy...
Deposit Growth Slips Below 10% As Credit Rises 11.7%, Gap At 200 Basis Points
MUMBAI: Deposit growth in the fortnight ended December 12 slowed to 9.7 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y), while credit growth picked up to 11.7 per cent Y-o-Y. This resulted in a credit-deposit growth gap of 200 basis points (bps), underscoring the persistent deposit tightness in the banking system, latest data...
Petroleum Products Exports Down 8% To $26.6 Billion In April-November
NEW DELHI: India’s exports of petroleum products fell 7.9% year-on-year to $26.6 billion during April-November of FY26, down from $28.9 billion in the same period last year, according to data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC). In volume terms, however, exports remained largely unchanged at 42.3 million...
Highway Projects Slow Down To Speed Up; Funding Prospects Bright
NEW DELHI: The 2025 was a year of reset for the highway sector when the groundwork was laid down for speedier execution in the years to come while taking a small hit in the current financial year on award and construction targets. Another change was the finalisation of the...
The New Nuclear Bill Severely Compromises India’s National Interests
By Dr Arun Mitra The new nuclear bill, titled Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI), passed by Parliament, has received the assent of the President of India, Droupadi Murmu. With this, it has become an Act governing various aspects of nuclear energy in the...
Beyond Funding: What Determines Employment Guarantee Success?
By Dr. Nilanjan Banik One of the contentious issues in the Vikshit Bharat Guarantee for Rojgar and Aleevika Mission (VB-G Ram G) Bill, which was eventually passed in Parliament, concerns allowing states to pause MGNREGA-related work for 60 days of their choice during peak sowing and harvesting seasons. The...
Disrupting Christmas Celebrations Allegedly By RSS Activist Is Ominous
By Dr. Gyan Pathak Disruption of Christmas celebrations 2025 is several states in India, allegedly by the RSS activists and Hindutva forces, has brought in focus the pitfalls of fanning the majority Hindu communal passions against non-Hindu religious groups, more so because the inter-religious tensions are rising sharply on...
India’s Space Agency Emerges As Major Force In Global Launch Market
By T N Ashok A rocket lifted off at dawn from the coastal launch complex of Sriharikota, carrying a 6.1-ton American communications satellite into the December sky. Within minutes, the payload was safely deployed in orbit, another mission completed with the metronomic precision that has become India’s calling card...
Trade Unions Toughen Stance, Call For General Strike On Feb 12
By P. Sreekumaran THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The major trade unions in the country except the BMS have decided to toughen their stance against the implementation of the four new labour codes, enactment of a new law to replace the MGNREGA, amendments to the Insurance Act and changes in the nuclear energy...
2025, The Year That Was; 2026, The Year That Will Be
By Nilotpal Basu Reviewing the year gone by is important, as the past gives us the wherewithal to understand the present and step into the future with all our energy and purpose, particularly in an environment which is engulfed by a mainstream media which is increasingly hegemonised by corporate...
In Defence Of Our Anti-Colonial Socialist-Communist Heritage
By Krishna Jha The national freedom movement, both through its successes and failures, greatly deepened the national consciousness. This consciousness went through the stages of evolving new strategies and methods of struggles, creation of new traditions of resistance, of secularism, of democracy and egalitarianism. Among its great successes and...
Trump Focuses On Nigeria, The New Epicentre Of ISIS Terrorism
By Ashok Nilakantan Ayers On Christmas night, American warplanes struck northwestern Nigeria. The targets: suspected ISIS positions in Sokoto State. The location surprised seasoned observers. Nigeria is neither Syria or Iraq. Yet for Donald Trump, that was precisely the point. The operation signals a fundamental shift. America’s war on...
Murmurs Of ‘Rahul Hatao, Priyanka Laao’ Pinch Congress
By Rahil Nora Chopra After poll routs in Maharashtra, Haryana, Delhi and poor performance in the assembly elections of Bihar, the voices for Priyanka Gandhi Vadra have grown stronger. The rumbling heard within the party is “Rahul hatao, Priyanka laao”, publicly calling for a meaty central role for Priyanka....
Sreenivasan, The Keeper Of Malayali Conscience On Screen Passes Away
By Tirthankar Mitra The common factor between the Malayali films Sandesam (1991) and Nadodikkattu (1987) is no more. Sreenivasan, who was part and parcel of both the films, has passed away. It did not matter to the multifaceted man that the two films were on divergent topics. Sreenivasan enacted...
