Editorial Analysis

The 16th Finance Commission (FC) marks a significant shift in India’s fiscal architecture by substantially increasing financial devolution to Urban Local Governments (ULGs).

As the AI Impact Summit unfolds in New Delhi, global leaders, policymakers, and technology experts are conscious about governing artificial intelligence (AI) for promoting innovation and managing its real and unknown risks.

India needs data-driven oversight in its aviation sector to monitor fares, prevent market abuse, ensure fair competition, and shift from reactive crisis management to proactive regulation.

Recently, a high-level committee on Union–State relations, submitted its first report to the Government of Tamil Nadu that deals with powers and responsibilities shared between the Union and the States.

The economic partnership between India and the United Arab Emirates has been achieved five years ahead of schedule and sought a new target of $200 billion by 2032.

The implementation of India’s labour codes marks a decisive shift towards greater financial inclusion of the workforce by embedding social security, income protection, and long-term financial safeguards into the employment relationship.

India’s Neighbourhood First Policy (NFP) has completed one decade recently. This milestone has triggered debates on whether the policy has strengthened India’s regional leadership or whether structural and geopolitical challenges have limited its success.

A major policy shift outlined in India’s Economic Survey 2025–26 focuses on ‘strategic indispensability’ in Global Value Chains (GVCs), reframing how India should approach industrial growth in a rapidly changing global economy.

Recent disruptions in India’s aviation sector like the Ahmedabad plane crash in June 2025 and large-scale IndiGo flight cancellations and delays in December 2025, exposed deeper structural risks that the problem is no longer temporary or airline-specific.

Global concern over nuclear security has intensified with the expiry of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) between the United States and Russia.