India’s rise to become the world’s fourth-largest economy in nominal GDP terms marks a defining moment in its post-Independence economic journey. With output estimated at around $4.18 trillion, India has overtaken Japan, placing itself behind only the United States, China and Germany. This achievement reflects decades of growth, reform and resilience, and confirms India’s growing weight in the global economic order. Yet, behind the celebration lies a deeper paradox: India’s economic scale has expanded rapidly, but average prosperity remains modest for a large share of its population.

For much of the last decade, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were portrayed as the twin pillars of Gulf security, united by common threats and shared ambitions. Nowhere was this partnership more visible than in Yemen, where both countries joined a military intervention in 2015 to counter the Iran-backed Houthi movement. That image of unity fractured dramatically in December 2025, when Saudi airstrikes hit Yemen’s southern port city of Mukalla — not against the Houthis, but against forces aligned with the UAE. The episode has laid bare long-standing divergences between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi and signals a dangerous new phase in Yemen’s already complex conflict.

As India advances toward the vision of Viksit Bharat, the emphasis is increasingly shifting from ambitious policy announcements to the quality of governance and implementation on the ground. Nowhere is this transition more critical than in the management of natural resources. In mineral-rich States such as Chhattisgarh—endowed with coal, bauxite, iron ore and limestone—inefficient governance can trigger cascading economic losses, environmental degradation and social unrest. Against this backdrop, the State’s transition from Khanij Online to Khanij Online 2.0 represents a significant institutional innovation, demonstrating how digital governance can embed transparency, accountability and efficiency into mineral administration.

Since the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, India’s engagement with artificial intelligence (AI) has shifted dramatically—from cautious experimentation to mass adoption. Today, India accounts for nearly 13.5% of ChatGPT’s 700 million weekly users, and AI is no longer the preserve of a few technology firms. Surveys indicate that almost 70% of Indian organisations now deploy AI-enabled products or services. This rapid diffusion marks the emergence of a dynamic AI ecosystem that is simultaneously reshaping labour markets, governance frameworks and digital infrastructure. The central challenge before India is to ensure that this transformation translates into broad-based gains rather than deeper economic and social divides.

The recent reform of India’s rural employment guarantee framework has provoked sharp political reactions, with much of the debate reduced to claims that the government is attempting to erase Mahatma Gandhi’s name from a landmark law. Such framing obscures the real issues at stake. The Vikasit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar And Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act (VB-GRAMG Act) is not a symbolic exercise, but a substantive attempt to recalibrate a two-decade-old social security instrument in line with India’s evolving fiscal federalism, rural economy, and development priorities. The meaningful question, therefore, is not about nomenclature, but about whether the redesign improves outcomes for rural workers and strengthens governance.