Best of BS Opinion: India's moment of fragility, resilience and reinvention

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

In a forgotten alley, the night carried a sound, low, broken, yet strangely resolute. A cat, bruised by battles we never saw, was letting go of one life while clinging to the memory of many others. It wasn’t simply the end of a creature’s journey, but a reminder of how endings and beginnings often blur. For we all know the myth that a cat never truly dies, it reinvents, reshapes, and survives. And much like that restless feline, India too stands in moments where fragility and resilience walk side by side, navigating transitions that call for both endurance and imagination. Let’s dive in. 

 

Bond markets, for instance, have been sounding that hollow cry. Yields have climbed nearly 20 basis points since June despite a repo rate cut. Inflation projections rising from 4.4 to 4.9 per cent and fiscal doubts around GST rationalisation have deepened unease. Add global yields to the mix, and the street is bracing for stubborn pressure, argues our first editorial. The sound, like in that alley, isn’t of collapse but of a system worn thin, where survival is possible but not without visible strain. 

Meanwhile, in sharp contrast, India’s infant mortality rate has reached a historic low of 25 per 1,000 live births, down from 129 in 1971. Yet in states like Uttar Pradesh or Madhya Pradesh, the cries that should have been silenced by progress still echo. Nearly a million infants missed vaccinations in 2024, malnutrition is rife, and health infrastructure remains skeletal, highlights our second editorial. Kerala shows what strong local systems can achieve, but for vast regions, the alley remains too dark, the sound too familiar. 

The GST’s sweeping revamp across more than 450 goods and services, writes A K Bhattacharya, is the most ambitious reset since 2017. It is both corrective and disruptive. Unlike earlier rounds that only cut rates, this one both reduces and raises them, streamlining slabs while tackling distortions in textiles and fertilisers. But the government has a narrow window before politics blocks the way for deeper reforms. Like the cat in the alley, GST reform carries scars from past battles yet still hints at renewal, and its survival is dependent on agility in execution. 

Rajeev Kher, Anil Jauhri and Vimalendu Chauhan write that India’s expanded quality control orders are designed to protect consumers and domestic industry, now spanning 800 categories. Yet by concentrating power in one body, India risks international credibility and export setbacks. The intent is survival through strength, but the framework limps, trapped in its own narrow alley and needing reform to find fresh footing. 

Finally, Aditi Phadnis reviews Abhishek Choudhary’s Believer’s Dilemma: Vajpayee and the Hindu Right’s path to power 1977-2018, which frames Vajpayee as the most paradoxical prime minister, torn between ideology and pragmatism. The book reminds us that survival in politics often looks less like triumph and more like endurance through contradictions. 

Stay tuned!