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Business Standard
a day ago
- Business
- Business Standard
Best of BS Opinion: How India is applying new fixes to old wounds
There's a particular discomfort in swallowing the same pill day after day and still feeling no better. At some point, whether it's for a persistent cold or a stubborn fever, you head back to the doctor — not for reassurance, but for a new prescription. Something different. Something that might actually work this time. That's where we are today, as a country, as a region, even as a workforce. Tweaking the dosage. Changing the medicine. Because the old ways aren't healing like they used to. Let's dive in. That shift is clearly visible in TCS's decision to let go of 12,000 employees, mostly from the middle and senior rungs. The reason? AI is becoming the new workforce. Like a treatment that makes older therapies obsolete, automation is reshaping how companies see value. But for India, where jobs are the lifeblood of growth, this change demands a rethink of skilling, education, and labour policy, argues our first editorial. We need a new formulation, and fast. In diplomacy too, there's been a shift in dosage. As tensions with the Maldives threatened to flare up, India quietly switched from confrontation to calibration, replacing troops with technicians, and aid with patience. Our second editorial notes how this non-invasive strategy is yielding a gradual thaw, possibly proving more potent than muscle-flexing. Akash Prakash, on the other hand, shows what the right medicine looks like. India's PLI scheme for smartphones, crafted carefully and administered diligently, has turned Apple into a believer and India into a serious contender in global electronics. The challenge now is to scale that formula to other sectors, with new incentives and coordinated policy muscle. Rama Bijapurkar writes that even the middle class, once thought to be the immune system of a stable economy, is mutating. Today's middle class isn't built on pensions or permanent jobs. It's a patchwork of gig workers, first-gen graduates, and economic tightrope walkers. Aspirations have become modest: not upward mobility but just a break from the grind. We need to redefine what it means to be 'middle class,' before our policies misdiagnose the patient. Finally, in The Trial that Shook Britain: How a Court Martial Hastened Acceptance of Indian Independence, reviewed by Amritesh Mukherjee, Ashis Ray reminds us that sometimes, history turns on a prescription no one expected. His retelling of the INA court-martial is less about law and more about contagion — how a courtroom drama spread outrage like wildfire, igniting mutinies, uniting a fractured country, and hastening the end of British rule. Sometimes, even the most unexpected prescription can trigger a revolution. Stay tuned!
Express Tribune
21-03-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
'Pak-India ties can suddenly improve'
Former foreign minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri and prominent Indian journalist and peace activist Ashis Ray emphasized the urgent need for dialogue and improved relations between Pakistan and India during a high-profile event held in Lahore on Thursday The event, attended by leading media personalities, retired civil and military officials, academics, and civil society members, highlighted the challenges and opportunities in fostering peace between the two nuclear-armed neighbors. Kasuri, who served as Pakistan's Foreign Minister from 2002 to 2007, opened the session by reflecting on the tumultuous history of Pakistan-India relations. He noted that while the relationship has seen both highs and lows, the current state of affairs is one of the worst in history, barring times of actual war. He attributed this decline to rising nationalist rhetoric in India, which has been used to polarize voters through anti-Muslim, anti-Pakistan, and anti-Bangladesh sentiments. However, Kasuri remained optimistic, recalling past instances where relations improved unexpectedly, such as former president Pervez Musharraf's warm reception in New Delhi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's surprise visit to Lahore in 2015. "Dialogue, dialogue, dialogue is the only way forward," Kasuri asserted, stressing that Pakistan and India cannot afford to remain locked in hostility. He cautioned that terrorism poses an equal threat to both countries and could undermine any potential diplomatic progress. Kasuri also highlighted the importance of resolving the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, referencing the four-point formula (actually comprising 11-12 points) that was nearly agreed upon during the 2004-2008 peace process. Speaking on the occasion, Ashis Ray, a London-based journalist, author, and grandnephew of Indian freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose, delivered the keynote address. Ray, who has authored "The Trial that Shook Britain", a book about the Red Fort Trials of Indian National Army soldiers in 1945-46, emphasized the shared history and cultural ties between the two nations. He proposed a three-point plan to foster people-to-people connections. This includes leveraging technology to bring together artists, filmmakers, and musicians from both countries; allowing Pakistani cricketers to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and Indian cricketers to participate in Pakistan's Super League (PSL) and encouraging joint ventures in neutral locations if direct exchanges are not feasible. Ray also highlighted the economic potential of improved relations, citing a 2023 World Bank study that found 85% of Pakistan's unrealized trade potential lies with India. "If trade can benefit both countries, why haven't we seized the opportunity?" he asked.
