Author: Anil Padmanabhan

Four European nations with a combined population smaller than Delhi NCR— but a GDP that rivals India’s, recently signed one of the most ambitious yet under-reported trade pact with India. The four countries are Iceland, Lik-Tun-Stine (Liechtenstein), Norway, and Switzerland who together make up the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). The deal worth $100 billion in investments holds out the promise of generating one million new jobs. A breath of fresh air indeed, especially when countries like the United States and China are weaponising trade and globalisation is under threat. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6T_nZEiIUs Is this then the dawn of a new trade…

In the last decade India completed the task of providing a bank account to almost every household. In fact, the world sees this as one of the biggest stories of financial inclusion. But here is the surprising fact—millions still don’t use these accounts regularly. Worse, they still borrow from moneylenders, fear digital payments, and remain uninsured. https://youtu.be/8UNEcw7fETM A new report released recently by RBI, National Strategy for Financial Inclusion 2025–30, calls out this glaring gap and sets out a new path. One in which finance, combined with skills creates an ecosystem for empowerment, especially for women. Such that financial inclusion…

India has developed the world’s largest welfare programme—delivering food, cash, insurance, jobs, pensions, scholarships and dozens of entitlements. Yet access eludes millions. Very often, this is because of lack of awareness of the myriad schemes. And, this has become more relevant given the recent decision to make social security mandatory for all workers, including those in the gig economy. https://youtu.be/WdR3E6DsxJI A pioneering social enterprise, Haqdarshak, is seeking to bridge this information asymmetry to expand access to millions. StratNewsGlobal.Tech spoke with Aniket Deogar, CEO and Founder of Haqdarshak about the complex challenge of last-mile inclusion on Capital Calculus.

Since 1991, every regime has promised labour reforms but never dared to walk the talk. Last week the National Democratic Alliance, no doubt buoyed by their landslide win in Bihar, decided to bite the bullet and notified the new labour codes. It is by far the biggest and boldest structural reform in 75 years. They aim to transform the way India hires, protects workers, and creates jobs. https://youtu.be/uoz4t_8_ctA Some obvious questions: Will these reforms deliver jobs at scale or trigger new tensions in the workplace? Will they lead to greater formalisation of the workforce? To help understand what is changing,…

The landslide win for the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in Bihar uncovered a swing voter: women. They outnumbered men in turnout by a massive 10 percentage points. Presumably, this swung the scales for the NDA. https://youtu.be/F-IpH_6Pz-o The cohort of women is also signaling new priorities. What will they be? Will women redefine India’s polity and policy priorities? To answer all this and more, StratNewsGlobal.Tech spoke to Rahul Verma, political analyst and Fellow, Centre for Policy Research on Capital Calculus.

For decades, India’s services exports have been its golden goose — powering jobs, foreign exchange, and global influence. But this is now under threat. Lawmakers in the United States have proposed a law that will tax companies outsourcing their services. This comes on top of the hike in fees of H1B visas. https://youtu.be/yAwS5NnSUZo Together, they pose a threat to India’s most lucrative and fastest growing export: services. To unpack this threat, StratNewsGlobal.Tech spoke to Professor Pritam Banerjee, Head, Centre for WTO Studies, IIFT. The professor has just co-published a research paper on how Washington’s new playbook could reshape the global…

The India Cyber Threat Report 2025, produced by Data Security Council of India (DSCI) and Seqrite, reveals a massive surge in attacks last year. There were over 369 million detections in 2024–702 every minute. As India digitises everything from banking to governance, this threat perimeter expands. Some obvious questions then: https://youtu.be/DsEnqGo1mR8 How is India’s cyber landscape evolving? Where do the biggest risks lie? Are policy, technology, and enterprises prepared? To answer all this and more StratNewsGlobal.Tech spoke to Sunil Sharma, VP and MD-Sales, Sophos India on Capital Calculus. Sophos is a British firm that is in the business of cybersecurity.

India is seeing a spurt in extreme weather events like frequent heat and cold waves, excessive and erratic rainfall, cloudbursts triggering floods and landslides and so on. It is estimated that in 2024 some part of India experienced extreme weather for little under 300 days. This is almost the entire year! Remember, Calcutta nearly drowned last month, when it was struck by a cloudburst. https://youtu.be/-YLrXdK0GP8 Why is this happening? How can businesses and the Indian economy cope with climate risk? To help unpack this vexing challenge StratNewsGlobal.Tech spoke to Prarthana Borah on Capital Calculus. She is a sustainability expert, the…

India’s health crisis is no longer about infections. Instead, it is about what we consume, which in turn is an outcome of our lifestyle. A research study based on the ICMR-India Diabetes survey provides empirical proof that India’s carb-heavy, protein-poor diet is driving poor health. Worse, this is also exacting staggering economic costs, both nationally and for individual household budgets. https://youtu.be/t1QxfDvaA_g To answer all this and more, StratNewsGlobal.Tech spoke Dr. R Anjana to unpack how India’s diet is quietly undermining its health and economy. And what it will take to change course. Dr Anjana is the study’s lead author and…

Traditionally, the Reserve Bank of India has been very conservative when it comes to regulatory controls. It has often erred on the side of caution. In fact, some believe that this has stifled innovation and agility of banks. Not any longer. The just presented RBI credit policy has flipped a switch, as it were. It has freed banks from stringent controls, provided more play for markets, and initiated a very specific focus on the ease of doing business. https://youtu.be/TW_dpfHC6hQ The obvious questions are, what will it do to India’s ecosystem for credit? More importantly, will this freedom bring with it…