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“The day is not far when India will be the hub of industrial manufacturing and the world will be looking towards it,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said in his independence-day speech, but the challenges before India on this voyage will not be easily navigable. Numerous challenges remain in its path despite the tag of the fastest growing economy.

"Have we got a centre-right coalition, have we got a right coalition, have we got a far-right coalition, or have we got a fascist coalition? I have seen all four printed, depending on who you read." This was said of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, but the Kind of coalition Prime Minister Narendra Modi leads can also depend on "who you read." Ask LoP Rahul Gandhi, who sat on the "fifth chair in the fifth row", listening to Modi's I-Day speech, and Gandhi might call Modi's NDA government a "fascist coalition."

A giant size corruption story is again at our threshold. Defeating all the claims by the government led by Narendra Modi about his fight against corruption, its untruth has been brought to light, and that too with blinding clarity. US based short seller Hindenburg is back with the research alleging Securities and Exchange Bureau of India (SEBI) chief Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband, Dhaval Buch, of having held “stakes in both the obscure offshore entities linked to the funds used in the Adani group’s alleged financial misconduct.”

Gaza’s death toll climbed past 40,000 today as international mediators held a new round of talks on a ceasefire and the release of hostages. In its most recent detailed report on the dead, Gaza’s Health Ministry said that of the 40,005 Palestinians reported killed, nearly 16,500 were children.

Eight days have passed since the ouster of Sheikh Hasina from power in Bangladesh on August 5 following the mass upsurge led by the students and other opposition parties against the 15 year rule of the Awami League Government led by her. Much has been written about the developments that led to her fall and the likely factors which contributed to her abdication of power. Now we can look at the various shape of events that can emerge till the interim government holds the general elections.

By suggesting that the alleged Hindenburg offensive against the Adani group is an attack against India, the ruling party is, though inadvertently, acknowledging the sway the group has on the Modi government. This assertion not only underscores the influence wielded by Adani but also serves to validate Rahul Gandhi’s persistent criticism that the Modi administration prioritizes the interests of corporate giants like Adani and Ambani over the welfare of ordinary Indians.

For the global youth between 15 and 24 years of age, employment rates have stabilized back to their pre-COVID-19 crisis trendlines, but unemployment rate stood at 13 per cent in 2023, according a new ILO report titled “The Global Employment Trend for Youth (GET for Youth) 2024. Moving forward, the global youth unemployment rate is expected to decline over the next two years to sit at 12.8 per cent in 2024 and 2025. However, employment to population ratio will decline from 35 per cent in 2023 to 34.6 percent, which will translate into decline in actual employment from 434.6 million in 2023 to 434.3 million in 2024, only to rise to 437.5 million in 2025.

Rape and murder of a woman doctor pursuing a postgraduate course at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital last week has struck a raw nerve in West Bengal. Crimes against women in this state have hit the headlines during both the Left Front regime and the Trinamool Congress dispensation.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is in denial mode and is not bothered about the changing public perception of her following her handling of a rape-cum-murder of a Kolkata trainee-doctor. Her INDIA bloc partner, Samajwadi Party Supremo Akhilesh Yadav, has not yet issued a statement as of writing this column.

India presents a unique case for bauxite. Though not as enormously large as they are in Guinea and Australia, bauxite resources (reserves plus deposits underneath to be explored) in India are big enough to sustain a large aluminium value chain. In fact, if anything unlike the official policy of Guinea and Australia, Indian authorities discourage exports of bauxite for value addition going up to high value aluminium products. According to the most recent alumina survey by Indian Bureau of Mines, India has 3.931bn tonnes of metallurgical grade bauxite resources with major concentration in the east coast states of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh. Deposits are also found in Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. About 84% of bauxite mined in the country contains 40% to 45% AI2 O3. Besides medium to high grade bauxite going into the making of alumina, India has low-grade non-metallurgical deposits mined mostly in Gujarat and Maharashtra, mainly for exports.