February 2026
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Sovereign Gold Bonds in 2026: Still a Safe Haven or a Tax Trap?
Gold has historically served as a hedge against uncertainty, whether inflation, geopolitical risk, or currency volatility. For generations, Indian households viewed the metal as a core pillar of financial security. In 2015, the Government of India introduced Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGBs) to modernize this tradition. The objective was to provide an alternative to physical gold…
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SDG 15 & Peru’s Conservation Paradox: Governing Megadiversity under an Extractive Economy
Peru is one of the world’s megadiverse countries, with the Andean ecosystems that are highly endemic, Amazon rainforest and ecologically important coastal areas. Though Peru covers less than 1 percent of the world land area, the country is home to 1,800 species of birds, more than 500 species of mammals and about 10 percent of…
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The Global Return of Industrial Policy
For decades, as globalization reshaped the world economy where markets were once expected to self-regulate, industrial policy seemed like a thing of the past. But in recent years, it’s made a dramatic return. Why? Because the world is no longer looking at industrial policy through the lens of protectionism and state control, it’s looking at…
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Budget 2026–27 and India’s Export Strategy Shift
India’s export strategy is undergoing a discernible shift in Union Budget 2026–27. Instead of a headline-heavy approach anchored primarily in sectoral incentives, the Budget moves toward a systems-led export competitiveness model built on trade facilitation, trusted-trader architecture, customs digitisation, logistics corridors, and targeted input-cost rationalisation. The message is clear: India wants to win export markets…