Best of BS Opinion: Between reform and risk in a fragmenting global order

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

The Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2026 attempts to redraw the line between crime and compliance by removing criminal penalties in hundreds of minor offences and replacing them with graded monetary penalties and administrative adjudication. By shifting enforcement away from criminal law, the reform aims to ease litigation and improve the business climate. But the gains are conditional. However, as our first editorial notes, decriminalisation does not eliminate the dense web of compliances or the overlaps between regulators. Without simpler rules, transparent adjudication, and credi ble appeals, the system risks becoming administratively lighter in form but not in practice. 

Meanwhile, our second editorial tracks a different frontier, as Nasa prepares for Artemis II, its first crewed mission beyond Earth orbit since 1972. The mission is less about discovery and more about validation of testing systems, human endurance, and mission reliability before more ambitious lunar plans take shape. And the stakes extend beyond prestige. Lunar missions promise scientific returns and potential access to scarce resources, but the rules governing ownership and extraction remain unsettled. The next phase of space activity will depend as much on legal frameworks as on technological capability. 

 

Laveesh Bhandari writes that India’s economic environment is being reshaped by a fragmented global order where volatility is persistent rather than episodic. Supply disruptions and higher energy costs are already filtering into informal sectors, with smaller firms and workers more exposed than large industries. For India, this implies a more selective industrial policy, but one that risks locking resources into sectors that may not remain viable. He makes the argument for flexibility and for better use of real-time data to identify stress points early. 

Pranjul Bhandari, meanwhile, focuses on the current energy shock, arguing that it is being read too narrowly as an inflation problem. The disruption spans oil, gas, and LPG, combining price increases with supply constraints, and affecting sectors from fertilisers to manufacturing. This makes it as much a growth shock as an inflationary one. Bhanduri prescribes restraint in these testing times. Policymakers should avoid both aggressive rate hikes and premature stimulus, maintaining a neutral stance while monitoring whether the shock persists. Fiscal discipline and tolerance for temporary inflation within the RBI’s band, she suggests, would limit policy errors, especially in a fragile growth environment. 

Finally, Kanika Datta highlights how Gautam Hazarika’s The Forgotten Indian Prisoners of World War II revisits a neglected strand of history. While the scale of Indian participation in the war is recognised, the experiences of prisoners of war have remained peripheral. The book traces the origins of the Indian National Army to Captain Mohan Singh rather than Subhas Chandra Bose alone, and documents the difficult choices faced by POWs amid Japanese control. The result is a more layered account that brings together military detail and individual experience, filling a gap in both wartime history and the story of India’s independence movement. 

Stay tuned!