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Asia’s energy shock
The Strait of Hormuz, a channel barely three kilometres wide at its narrowest point, has once again demonstrated its power to unsettle the global economy. On April 18th, Iranian gunboats fired on a tanker in the waterway, and Tehran announced the re-imposition of restrictions, accusing America of violating the fragile ceasefire. Roughly one-fifth of the world’s seaborne oil — about 20 million barrels per day before the conflict — normally passes through this chokepoint. For Asia the stakes could hardly be higher. In 2025, the region sourced nearly 60% of its crude imports from the Middle East, with China, India, Japan and South Korea accounting for about three-quarters of the oil and nearly 60% of the LNG flowing through the strait. Japan imports around 95% of its oil from the…
China’s surprising spring
On April 16th China’s National Bureau of Statistics released its first-quarter GDP figures for 2026. The economy expanded by 5.0% year on year, beating analysts’ forecasts of 4.8% and accelerating from the 4.5% recorded in the final quarter of 2025. In nominal terms output reached 33.42trn yuan ($4.87trn). For a country that set its full-year growth target at 4.5-5.0% and that is navigating the fallout from war in the Middle East, the number was striking. The performance stands in contrast to the global picture. The conflict that began on February 28th between America, Israel and Iran has driven up energy prices, disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and clouded the outlook for world trade. Most forecasters have trimmed their global growth projections. The IMF this week lowered its estimate…
Editor's Choice
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Desire, Diversity and Distortion: India’s Enduring Gender Stereotypes
In offices, universities and political corridors across India, an unspoken belief continues to influence how people perceive and judge women:…
Is India Moving from an Assembly Hub to a Value-Added Manufacturing Economy – Can AI accelerate the shift
For decades, the narrative of Indian manufacturing followed a predictable, albeit limited, script. We were the "back office of the…
Economics of Demographic Change: Can India Turn Its Youth into Wealth
Where the world economies are struggling with declining birth rates, tight labour markets and an ageing population, India is standing…
Politics & Governance
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India’s parliamentary revolution
In the world’s largest democracy, where women make up half the electorate but have long been sidelined in the halls of power, a quiet constitutional…
India launches its largest-ever census, reopening a century-old debate over caste and equity
More than three million enumerators fanned out across India this week to begin the monumental task of counting the country’s roughly 1.4 billion people, launching…
Indonesia launches gradual ban on social media access for children under 16
Indonesia began phased implementation on Saturday of a new government regulation that bars children under 16 from creating or maintaining accounts on major social media…
Hindu Seers Escalate Battle Against ‘Forced Conversions’ with Supreme Court Intervention, Igniting Clash Over Faith and Fundamental Rights
In a move that underscores deepening fault lines in India's fractious debate over religious freedom, the Akhil Bharatiya Sant Samiti, a powerful Hindu saints' body…
India & Neighbourhood
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Nepal’s Rapper Prime Minister Faces First Tests: Arrests, Reforms and the Hard Reality of Power
Barely three weeks after being sworn in as Nepal’s youngest-ever prime minister on 27 March 2026, Balendra Shah – the 35-year-old former underground rapper known…
Political Theatre
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China’s surprising spring
On April 16th China’s National Bureau of Statistics released its first-quarter GDP figures for 2026. The economy expanded by 5.0% year on year, beating analysts’…
States & Cities
View AllFrom Workshop to Encrypted Chat: How Four Ordinary Men Allegedly Built a Toy Car Bomb Plot Targeting India’s Heart
In the dim glow of a private automobile workshop on the outskirts of Thane, just north of Mumbai, Mosaib Ahmad…
India’s Digital Underworld: How Jailed Gangsters Run Transnational Crime Empires via WhatsApp and Instagram
In a brick-kiln office on the outskirts of Jind in Haryana, businessman Anup Chaudhary was reviewing accounts on the afternoon…
Ground mishap at Delhi airport leaves two Boeing 737s damaged as safety questions linger
A routine afternoon on the tarmac at one of the world’s busiest airports in New Delhi turned into an embarrassing…
Seaplane Ambition on the Ganga Faces Pushback Over Threat to Endangered Wildlife and Sacred Waters
In the shadow of the Himalayas, where the Ganga flows past the pilgrimage town of Rishikesh, a sleek 19-seater seaplane…
Life & Culture
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Business & Economy
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India’s Resilience in an Age of Crisis: Navigating Oil, Energy, and Economic Pressures
In an era defined by overlapping global crises—volatile oil prices, energy insecurity, and economic uncertainty—India stands at a critical juncture. As one of the world’s…
