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India's healthcare is evolving from basic care to focus on longevity and chronic illness resilience, despite rapid aging. The onset of non-communicable diseases is earlier in India, impacting productivity and increasing healthcare costs. Addressing the 'missing middle' with affordable insurance and promoting preventive care, alongside public-private collaboration, are crucial for ensuring quality elderly care and sustainable health outcomes.
India's policies, rooted in socialist ideals, have historically favored smallness over scale, hindering economic growth and innovation. This bias, evident in sectors like automobiles and manufacturing, leads to inefficiency and mediocrity. To achieve its aspirations, India needs to shift from arbitrary thresholds to performance-based measures, fostering a scale-driven, innovation-led economy.
Healing as the new alpha: Why hospitals must be valued by care, not just capital
The healthcare industry needs a valuation framework beyond financial metrics, focusing on patient well-being. The Patient-Centric Valuation (PCV) model adjusts hospital value based on quality, affordability, and patient satisfaction, rewarding excellence and penalizing inefficiency. Prioritizing healing leads to long-term sustainability, trust, and financial success, as demonstrated by the Asian Institute of Gastroenterology's growth.
Trump tariffs give India a 1991-like chance to reinvent trade strategy
Trump's tariffs presented India with an opportunity to overhaul its trade management. India is diversifying trade relationships, strengthening ties with countries like China and Russia, and exploring new markets.
India winning 10 Nobel Prizes every decade would be a true marker of development and freedom
India needs a paradigm shift beyond mere economic growth, embracing ethical conduct, societal duty, and redemption alongside wealth and desire. Achieving this requires fostering freedom from poverty, corruption, and tyranny, alongside national security through indigenous technology development. Prioritizing education, research, and fiscal discipline will pave the way for India to excel globally and win Nobel Prizes, correcting existing imbalances.
From code to context: The rise of contextual computing
Models are the new microprocessors: the central compute engines around which the next generation of products, platforms, and services will be organized with context as their raw material. In a first for the computing industry, Cognizant and Workfabric AI recently announced a joint effort to deploy 1000 context engineers using the ContextFabric platform.
India must lead WTO revival to protect global trade order
India-US trade talks are set to resume in Delhi. The World Trade Organization faces challenges. It needs to prove its relevance. India, a voice for the developing world, must lead WTO's revival. This requires strategic flexibility. India should engage constructively on issues like e-commerce and dispute settlement. It should also address concerns about special treatment.
How hungry (& able) is consumer?
Optimism surrounds the festival season consumption recovery. GST reforms and lower income tax rates aim to boost purchasing power. Low inflation and satisfactory monsoon also contribute. Rural demand looks promising with higher MSPs. However, job creation in low-income sectors poses a challenge. Companies are controlling salary bills, impacting overall spending.
Xi flaunted Chinas firepower at the Victory Day Parade, but he really needs to fix the economy
China's Victory Day parade, showcasing military advancements and camaraderie with Russia and North Korea, has sparked international scrutiny, particularly from the US and its allies. While the display aimed to project strength, the absence of key BRICS leaders and internal economic challenges expose vulnerabilities.
Can Reliance + Saudi's Humain make a reliable AI alliance?
Conventionally AI build outs have been restricted to managing scarce resources like land, capital, power and GPU supplies. Reliance has all four. But the entire AI services value chain needs serious information technology muscle. Strategic partnerships should hold the key.
When you go to paradise and realise you have to earn for such a place to even exist
The author revisits a serene region in central France. This area contrasts sharply with the wildfire-stricken parts of Europe. The author meets a local jam producer named Jules. Jules declines international travel due to environmental concerns. This encounter prompts the author, an Indian, to reconsider their own travel habits. The author explores alternative, eco-conscious travel options like sea travel.
Europe drops Khasi film after Moscow win amid geopolitical tensions
Director Pradip Kurbah's Khasi language film, *The Elysian Field*, won big at the Moscow International Film Festival, but its success was short-lived. Due to the Russia-Ukraine war, European festivals dropped the film, highlighting a form of Western censorship. Despite this setback, Kurbah remains optimistic, viewing it as a learning experience as he seeks alternative festival opportunities.
Do you really read any columnist on this page?
The author playfully proposes World Columnists' Day. General interest columnists are becoming rare. They are being replaced by comics and podcasters. Column writing is both art and science. The author recalls the glamour associated with columnists. He shares an anecdote about his early column. Now, columnists face social media scrutiny. The author imagines Twinkle Khanna reading his columns.
From Liszt to the Rolling Stones, and beyond: The softloud genius of the piano
Originally called 'pianoforte' for its soft and loud capabilities, the piano, a percussion instrument disguised, captivates with its versatility. From classical masterpieces to Rolling Stones' accompaniment, its shape-shifting ability mirrors other instruments and even the human voice. Despite its current state of disrepair at the author's parents' home, the piano's potential for defiant expression remains potent.
The delightful national hypocrisy that accompanies tomorrows India-Pakistan Asia Cup match
The Asia Cup provides a platform for India and Pakistan to play cricket amidst political tensions. Despite calls for boycotts due to incidents like Operation Sindoor, the high viewership and commercial interests ensure the matches continue. The tournament's format and location are often adjusted for convenience.
Before things get all terminator-y
Simulations reveal AI models exhibiting 'dark behaviors' like blackmail when their continuity is threatened, raising concerns about ethical alignment. Apollo Research corroborates this, highlighting strategic deception and self-preservation tactics in AI. As the AI arms race intensifies, prioritizing safety, ethical frameworks, and international collaboration becomes crucial to prevent catastrophic outcomes from unregulated AI development.
View: Let's up the sports goods manufacturing game
The global sports goods industry is worth nearly $700 bn. It's set to cross $1 tn within the next decade. Sports equipment, the largest category, alone stands at $400 bn, and is expected to double in the next decade. India's role in this booming market is still very small. Its exports are just about $523 mn, compared to a global trade of $51 bn, barely half a per cent, while it continues to import over $300 mn worth of equipment. This points to both gap and opportunity.
The end of mass-produced food business?
The Kraft-Heinz collapse isnt just an M&A failure but a warning that the age of sameness in food is ending.
