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The Union Government Must Move its Budget Focus Away From the Organised Sector

Renowned economist Arun Kumar delves into the pressing economic challenges India faces ahead of the 2025-26 Union Budget.

In the second episode of ‘Budget 2025: What’s at Stake?’, renowned economist and former professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University Arun Kumar delves into the pressing economic challenges India faces ahead of the 2025-26 Union Budget.

With GDP figures slipping, slow bank credit growth, low consumption demand, stagnant private investment and declining production, what does this budget mean for the broader economy? Watch now for a critical and informed analysis of the economic crossroads India faces.

This series is a collaboration between the Centre for Financial Accountability and The Wire.

The Wire Talks | Israel’s Bombing of Gaza Has Made a Bonfire of International Norms

Can the world ever be the same after Israel’s brutal, non-stop bombing of Gaza? That is the question author Pankaj Mishra discusses in this podcast.

Israel’s bombing of Gaza has made a bonfire of international norms. The culture of impunity has now been universalised

Can the world ever be the same after Israel’s brutal, non-stop bombing of Gaza? That is the question author Pankaj Mishra writes in his latest book The World After Gaza.

Mishra’s well researched book explodes several myths, not least being that Israel was formed in 1948 to provide a safe place for survivors of the Holocaust. On the contrary, he writes, the survivors who did move there were treated badly by the European jews. Most Jews who moved there were from the Arab countries who knew little about the Holocaust.

In his interview with Sidharth Bhatia, Mishra also talks about how western countries have backed Israel fully, allowing it to get away with a lot and this will have long term consequences.

Every Citizen Should Have 5 Economic Rights. Can This Govt Make Those a Reality?

This is the first episode of ‘Budget 2025: What’s at Stake?’ – which will look at the issues that need addressing in the days leading up to the Union government’s annual budget presentation.

In the first episode of ‘Budget 2025: What’s at Stake?’, renowned economist and former professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University Prabhat Patnaik unpacks how the Union Budget 2025-26 is likely to reflect the government’s overarching economic strategy. Patnaik explores the budget’s role in addressing growth, inequality, and fiscal priorities, while critically analysing its alignment with broader policy objectives.

The government’s economic priorities and strategies, he argues, need an overhaul if we are to live in a society that is more equal. He talks about five economic rights he thinks every citizen should have, and how the government can raise the money required to make these a reality.

79% of Indians Think of Rich-Poor Divide as a Major Issue: Report

Religious and caste discrimination also rank high, with 71% of Indians identifying them as serious concerns.

The Pew Research Center’s report, ‘Economic Inequality Seen as Major Challenge Around the World’, reveals that 81% of Indians view the wealth gap as a significant issue, with 64% calling it a “very big problem.” Additionally, 39% of Indians advocate for complete economic reform.

Religious and caste discrimination also rank high, with 71% of Indians identifying them as serious concerns. Globally, 54% of respondents see economic inequality as a major challenge, often blaming the political power of the wealthy.

‘Trump 2.0 Threatens Tremendous Disruption on Several Fronts’: Former US Ambassador

Watch Navtej Sarna, former Ambassador to the US, in conversation with Karan Thapar on what Trump’s presidency could mean for India.

Navtej Sarna, former Ambassador to the US, who served in Washington during the first two years of the first Trump presidency, said Trump 2.0 threatens “tremendous disruption on several fronts”. He added that this will “question the very basis of international relations”. Calling it “Trump unplugged”, Sarna said this will amount to “considerably greater destabilisation” and that India and the world we must be prepared for it.

Watch | ’90 Hour Week: Don’t Take It Seriously; Probably Said Without Thinking’: Naushad Forbes

‘Many of these comments, we take them more seriously than they deserve.’

The co-chairman of Forbes Marshall and a former president of the Confederation of Indian Industry has said that comments made by the Chairman of Larsen and Toubro, S. N. Subrahmanyan, advocating a 90-hour week, including Sundays, should not be taken seriously and were made without thinking.

“Many of these comments, we take them more seriously than they deserve. They are made probably without the greatest of thought”, said Naushad Forbes.

‘The Place Where Mukesh Chandrakar’s Body Was Found Is the Graveyard of Journalism’

Watch The Wire Hindi’s editor, Ashutosh Bharadwaj, at the memorial meet of slain journalist Mukesh Chandrakar.

Watch The Wire Hindi’s editor, Ashutosh Bharadwaj, at the memorial meet of slain journalist Mukesh Chandrakar. Several journalists gathered at the Press Club of India in Delhi on January 7 to commemorate Chandrakar and protest his brutal killing.

Insight South Asia | National Security Driving Indian Contact With Taliban

India has entered into functional engagement with the Taliban authorities like China, Iran, Russia and other regional players.

Former Indian high commissioner to Pakistan T.C.A. Raghavan told Amit Baruah that India has entered into functional engagement with the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan like China, Iran, Russia and other regional players. Raghavan said it was surprising how quickly the relationship between the Taliban and Afghanistan had unraveled. He is also of the view that there would be some engagement eventually between India and Pakistan.

The Wire Wrap | Another Trump Presidency, Delhi Elections, Continuing Violence in Manipur

Jahnavi Sen discusses what the next four years could mean for the US, the world and India with Omair Ahmad, editor of The Third Pole, and Siddharth Varadarajan, founding editor of The Wire.

A week from now, Donald Trump will be sworn in as the president of the United States. He is the first US president to be sworn in as a convicted felon. Even before assuming office, Trump has made a number of statements that have international consequences.

He has threatened to subjugate Canada, annex Greenland and override Panama’s sovereignty. Jahnavi Sen discusses what the next four years could mean for the US, the world and India with Omair Ahmad, editor of The Third Pole, and Siddharth Varadarajan, founding editor of The Wire.

They also discuss the upcoming Delhi assembly elections, the campaign rhetoric being used and the Union government’s failure to bring the violence in Manipur under control.

How Satellite Images Reveal the Devastation of Manipur’s Conflict

For instance, B. Phainom village where two Kuki women were paraded naked – seen in a video that sent ripples across the country – appears to have all but disappeared.

New Delhi: Google Earth images depict the extent of destruction due to the ethnic violence across the Manipur’s most affected districts – Churachandpur, Kangpokpi, Bishnupur, and Imphal East. Entire villages appear to have been reduced to rubble, with trees growing in places where houses once stood.

The satellite images captured by The Wire reveal the full extent of the devastation. These images were captured in early 2025. For instance, B. Phainom village is where two Kuki women were paraded naked – seen in a video that sent ripples across the country. The village appears to have all but disappeared. Another village, S Kanan in Kangpokpi has also vanished from the map, with houses completely destroyed. Similarly, all the houses belonging to the Meitei community at Khuga Tampak in Churachandpur were burnt down and satellite images show a vast section of houses razed entirely.

Watch the full report here: