Best of BS Opinion: The many melodies of markets, policies, and progress

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

In the grand symphony of our shared world, every decision resonates as a note - some harmonious, others dissonant - blending into a melody that is aimed at defining progress, governance, and ambition. Similarly, today each of our stories form an instrument in this vast orchestra, adding texture, melody, frightful notes, and depth to the music of change.

 

Our first editorial today highlights how the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has struck a bold chord with the expansion of its T+0 (same-day settlement) system. Like a violinist raising the tempo, Sebi’s initiative aims to quicken the rhythm of India’s stock market, enhancing liquidity and efficiency. This rapid tempo is a blessing for retail investors, but every high note demands precision - stockbrokers and market infrastructure institutions must fine-tune their systems to avoid out-of-tune transitions. The challenge lies in orchestrating dual settlement systems without discord. Read here to find out more.

 

Meanwhile, the World Bank’s recent International Debt Report strikes a frightful note, highlighting the growing menace of external debt among low- and middle-income nations. Governments, like guitarists burdened with sombre notes, are groaning under the weight of pandemic-era borrowings. The poorest nations, where debt has risen 18 per cent since 2020, face a grim cycle of low growth and high interest payments, a lament threatening global macroeconomic stability. Our second editorial today tries to conduct a way out of turning the melody of growth dull, highlighting that the need for bold, coordinated leadership to rewrite this troubling score has never been more urgent.

 

Closer home, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is conducting a delicate balancing act, like a conductor striving for equilibrium between different sections of the orchestra. Faced with slowing GDP growth and inflation exceeding 6 per cent, the RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee held its policy rate steady, choosing instead to trim the Cash Reserve Ratio to maintain liquidity. Structural reforms and a revival of private investment are the deep strings required to sustain a long-term pleasant melody, argues public policy analyst M Govind Rao.

 

On the other hand, the Green Revolution, once hailed as India’s triumphant prelude to food security, now reveals haunting echoes of its unintended consequences. Subsidies for fertilisers and free electricity, once the flutes of prosperity, now sound like dissonant notes, encouraging unsustainable practices that deplete groundwater and pollute the air. Attempts to reform this ageing score were met with resistance, like a chorus refusing a new tune, writes Kanika Datta. Yet, without change, this piece risks being remembered not as a celebration of progress but as a cautionary tale of imbalance and inefficiency.

 

In today’s book review, Veenu Sandhu explores Chris van Tulleken’s 'Ultra-Processed People', a sharp critique of the food industry, much like the cacophony of industrial noise overpowering nature’s harmonies. Ultra-processed foods, packaged and laden with additives, dominate diets globally, creating health issues and disrupting natural consumption patterns. The book critiques food giants like Nestle and Coca-Cola as maestros of this unhealthy symphony, perpetuating cravings and profiting from discord. Read more to find out.

 

From Sebi’s swift tempos to the World Bank’s ominous chords, from RBI’s delicate balance to agriculture’s unresolved dissonance, today’s stories remind us that the world’s symphony is both complex and dynamic.