Best of BS Opinion: Trust, regulation, and the limits of one-handed claps

Here are the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today

When we were kids, we all have tried to solve the riddle: How do you clap with one hand? We twisted our palms, flicked our fingers, smacked our wrists together — trying, failing, trying again. The frustration of it all. Because clapping, like so many things in life, takes two. A balance, a rhythm, an equal and opposite force. But what happens when that balance is lost? Today’s stories feel a lot like that — attempts at harmony that don’t quite land, systems where one side pushes forward while the other holds back. Let’s dive in. 

Imagine walking into a bank, depositing your savings, and then waking up one day to find it’s all gone. Your trust, shattered — like a hand reaching for a clap that never comes. The RBI’s crackdown on New India Co-operative Bank has reignited fears about depositor safety. India’s banking system runs on trust, but the Rs 5 lakh deposit insurance limit only covers 43 per cent of accessible deposits. Our first editorial asks that the government may raise this, but should depositors really have to factor in institutional risk? When trust collapses, so does the system. 

Trust is also at the heart of India’s influencer economy, now facing its own credibility test. The new India Influencer Governing Council (IIGC) wants to regulate the booming creator economy. But without enforcement, our second editorial argues, it’s like clapping with one hand — guidelines exist, but there’s no real bite. Ranveer Allahbadia’s joke turned into a police case, and Bournvita’s legal takedown of criticism proved that brands and creators are still at odds. Guidelines exist, but without accountability, they’re just noise. 

That same tension between efficiency and oversight defines Trump 2.0’s latest move. With Elon Musk heading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), as Shyam Saran explains, bureaucracy is being stripped down in favour of AI-driven governance. The irony? A system built on checks and balances is now functioning with only one side of the equation, prioritising speed over democracy. 

In India, a similar push for progress is unfolding with the bullet train. Vinayak Chatterjee examines how high-speed rail promises a leap forward, yet outdated railway infrastructure may slow it down. The Rajdhani was once seen as unnecessary luxury — now, the Bullet Train faces the same skepticism. Without rapid modernisation, it risks being a future-facing dream shackled to legacy constraints. 

And then, there’s the sound of silence — one forced upon journalist Gauri Lankesh. Lankesh spent her life clapping back at power, her words a sharp counterpoint to the silence of fear. In today’s book review of I Am on the Hit List: Murder and Myth-making in South India by Rollo Romig, Areeb Ahmad revisits her assassination and the ideological battle that made her a target.