The article titled "Lessons from an ex-Goldman Sachs CEO" appears as a featured interview highlight in the sources:
"For those well versed with the world of high finance, very few firms come close to matching the mystique of Goldman Sachs. The investment banking giant is not only a Wall Street icon but also a prolific talent factory for boardrooms. Needless to say, the chief executive’s role at Goldman Sachs is among the most coveted and scrutinised. In an interview with Abhishek Mukherjee, Lloyd Blankfein, who led the firm from 2006-18, recounts the stormy days of the 2008 global financial crisis, his advice for good workplaces and good investments, his positive outlook on the Indian economy, and discusses his newly published memoir,"
Custodians brace for Sebi’s FPI net settlement reforms
Market regulator approved net settlement for FPI cash trades to align with global practices By Apoorva Ajith | Mumbai
Indian custodians are preparing for operational disruption after the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) approved a shift to net settlement of trades for foreign portfolio investors (FPIs). The regulator is pressing ahead with these reforms despite industry calls to make the change optional.
The move, cleared at Sebi’s March board meeting, allows FPIs to settle funds on a net basis in the cash market, replacing the system where each leg of a transaction is settled separately. While the change is aimed at reducing funding costs and aligning India with global practices, intermediaries warn it could strain systems and workflows. Some industry participants have also questioned the timing of the implementation amid volatile global conditions.
Gross vs. Net Settlement
Under the current gross settlement system, FPIs must fund each transaction independently. For example, if an investor buys and sells ₹100 crore worth of stocks, they must bring in funds for the purchase and separately deliver the sale, even if the net cash position is zero.
Netting removes this inefficiency by offsetting obligations. In the same scenario, proceeds from a sale can be used to fund a purchase, eliminating the need to bring in the full ₹100 crore. However, this shift also compresses timelines, requiring trades to be confirmed by the evening for settlement the next morning, leaving less room for late changes.
In a press release, Sebi stated the decision was made "with a view to enhancing operational efficiency and reducing cost of funding for FPIs" and will apply to outright transactions where there is only a purchase or a sale in a security within a settlement cycle.
Operational Complexities
Custodians, who are at the center of trade execution and settlement, argue that the shift introduces significant complexity as trades flow through multiple layers of global and local intermediaries.
Utkarsh Singh, senior manager at SBI-SG Global Securities Services, noted, “It may not be a great time to implement netting right now due to the geopolitical tensions... FPIs may become cautious due to so many changes being implemented by custodians at such a volatile time". Despite these concerns, he added that the regulator views these changes as the "need of the hour".
Intermediary Challenges
Because FPI trades are often routed through both global and local custodians across different time zones, custodians have flagged difficulties in accommodating late trade changes once positions are netted.
- Churning and Time Zones: "There will be business implications on custodians as a lot of churning will happen during a day," Singh explained. He noted that 60-70% of FPIs route trades through a global custodian.
- System Inefficiency: Some participants suggest custodians prefer gross settlement because netting across FPIs could make the system inefficient for global custodians.
- Taxation and Coordination: A clearing corporation member highlighted that explaining netted payments—which must also account for taxes like securities transaction tax—to global custodians will be complicated. "If tax is ₹6, then ₹39 will be paid. In essence, when crores worth of money are involved, it is complicated to explain to a global custodian," they said.
Timeline for Rollout
While the operational burden is high, Sebi has provided a long implementation runway, with the framework set to be rolled out by 31 December. Taxes and stamp duties will continue to be levied on a delivery basis.
Despite the friction, some see the long-term benefit. Khushboo Chopra, head of business development at IQ-EQ, stated, "By aligning India with international settlement standards, this move slashes funding cost and reinforces our market’s appeal as a frictionless destination for global capital".
What’s cooking for staff meals at restaurants?
By Rituparna Roy
In 2011, Spanish chef Ferran Adrià released a book titled The Family Meal, inspired by the home-style dishes his team cooked at the three-Michelin-star restaurant El Bulli. Similarly, chef Thomas Keller highlighted the importance of communal team meals in his 1999 The French Laundry Cookbook. At Noma in Copenhagen, a celebrated ritual involves the kitchen team taking turns cooking dishes from their own home countries. Chef Niyati Rao of Mumbai’s Ekaa recalls her imli chutney being a hit during one such "family meal" internship.
Staff meals, often called family meals, are considered vital for building community and providing a moment of pause before the intensity of service. They serve as a platform for chefs to showcase regional dishes from their hometowns and can even spark innovations that later move to the restaurant's main menu.
Several Indian chefs shared their restaurant’s staff meal rituals with Lounge:
- Koyel Roy Nandy (Sienna Calcutta): Their meals often feature everyday Bengali food or regional specialties from team members' homes. Summer menus include panta bhaat (fermented rice) and aamer tok dal (raw mango flavoured dal), while seasonal vegetables are used for shukto or macher jhol. A smoked tilapia salad brought from Manipur by a chef was so successful it was adapted into tacos for the restaurant’s permanent menu.
- Hussain Shahzad (Hunger Inc. Hospitality): At The Bombay Canteen and O Pedro, a monthly roster guides meals. Mornings start with regional favorites like idli or besan cheela, while lunch is a balanced spread of dal, sabzi, and rice. Late-night suppers are more indulgent, featuring fried rice or masala pav. The key ritual is everyone sitting down to eat together.
- Regi Mathew (Kappa Chakka Kandhari): The team, hailing from across India, finds comfort in daily staples like rice, curry, and thoran. Everyone from the kitchen to management shares the same meal. A unique monthly tradition is the “puff party,” where the entire team gathers for tea and puffs to connect away from the pressure of service.
- Manav Khanna (Banng): These meals provide an opportunity to use leftovers or kitchen scraps creatively. For example, stems of morning glory or kale are transformed into Thai-style stir-fries, and fish trimmings are seasoned and grilled in banana leaves.
- Ansab Khan (Burma Burma): Menus adapt to local tastes across different cities—soya chaap in Delhi and bisi bele bhaat in Bengaluru. Sundays often feature treats like chole bhature, while the pastry team provides twice-monthly desserts like fruit trifle or caramel custard.
These biryani lunches and regional favorites help foster essential camaraderie among kitchen teams before the rush of service begins.
A collective that speaks in one voice
Bengal’s Panjeri Artists’ Union uses performance to get audiences talking about politics, society and things that matter By Avantika Bhuyan
In January, the Coir Godown at Aspinwall House, Kochi, turned into a site of performative memory as two artists—Samapti Mondal and Bhaskar Hazarika—walked around with a funeral bed on their head. After setting the wooden structure down, Samapti and Bhaskar, both members of the Panjeri Artists’ Union (PAU), started sorting out a mesh of blue and red threads while sharing experiences of living together amid linguistic tensions and identity politics. A symbol of caste-based religiosity, the bed became both an object and stage, and the body turned into a site for labour as well as remembrance.
Performance has emerged as a powerful medium for the Bengal-based PAU to articulate thoughts about urgent issues such as caste, marginalisation, and political resistance, as well as more personal themes of care. The lived experiences of the various members coalesce in different durational performances such as Try to Remember. The union, formed on 21 February 2022, comprises 14 practitioners from realms such as visual art, design, literature, film, and academia. Deriving its name from a traditional navigational tool used by boatmen to sail across Bengal’s riverways, PAU is deeply embedded in the very communities its members hail from. The collective has quickly carved a niche for itself for making collaborative, socially impactful art.
Members note that performativity is not their only focus; their practice also addresses questions of artistic labour, post-colonial theory, visual culture, and social justice. As a result, their work manifests in many forms—as exhibitions, workshops, discussions, zines, conceptual texts, visual essays, and archival explorations. At the Serendipity Arts Festival 2023, for instance, PAU showcased a multidisciplinary project as part of the exhibition, Turning: On Field and Work, curated by Vidya Shivadas. Using sculpture, textile, poetry, and video, the members evoked the experience of living and working on Jessore Road, Kolkata, where personal memories met the long history of migration and belonging that marked this vital site.
Last year, as part of the Birla Academy, members explored the history of the Great Bengal and the resulting famine and displacement. At times, silent conversations were held with sculptures and statues, and at other times texts were read out and songs performed in response to the site. Multidisciplinary artist Anupam Roy emphasizes that "collaboration" is central to the union's identity. He states that performativity is rooted in local cultural practices and that it is important for cultural workers to engage with people rather than inhabit a passive space.
Members Samapti and Bhaskar hail from Durgapur and Assam, respectively. In Try to Remember, they negotiated memories of each other’s families and knowledge systems. Bhaskar elaborated that Samapti’s father worked in a factory in Durgapur that was shut down, while he grew up in Assam immersed in extreme identity politics. They both share experiences of marginalized life and being overlooked. Working with entangled threads was symbolic for them, as Bhaskar’s mother is a weaver, and he notes that material carries memory, showing the entangling of personal and social experiences.
In conversations, members like Pinak, Bhaskar, and Anupam shared that the process is often more significant than the resulting work. Projects change shape as collaborators join, and individual concerns intersect or run parallel to collective practices. For Pinak, fields of inquiry include linguistic tensions and the complexity of translation, being deeply impacted by violence against Bengali-speaking people across India. Together with Labani Jangi, he responded to these events with the Manifesto Translation Lab, using text to move between Malayalam and Bengali to highlight translation as a site of rupture.
Labani Jangi, a research scholar, focuses on identity formation and the erasure of subaltern voices, drawing from her daily realities as a Muslim woman. She notes that Panjeri’s roots lie in border villages and towns, with most members hailing from marginalised communities. Bhaskar has also focused on recontextualising traditional practices like bhauna performers—a theatrical form rooted in Naaamdharma founded by Srimanta Sankardeva—which features non-Brahmanical voices shaped by caste histories.
For PAU, the viewer is not a separate entity, and they believe it is problematic to draw a line between performer and audience. Anupam Roy recalls a project in Lalgola, Murshidabad, centered on Bhaskar’s experiences of the Brahmaputra, which acquired a new context by the river Padma acting as a border between India and Bangladesh. The performance led to hours of intense exchange of lived experiences with residents, students, and parents sharing stories of the river as a border and harbinger of change. Roy realized that performance can propose a space for such exchanges, and Bhaskar emphasizes the need to move away from romantic notions of art.
Lessons from Revathi’s life
RE READINGS: A monthly column on backlisted books that have much to offer in contemporary times By Somak Ghoshal
On 11 December 2013, a two-member bench of the Supreme Court dealt a body blow to the fight for LGBTQ+ rights in India when they overturned a landmark 2009 judgement by the Delhi high court that had deemed Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code unconstitutional,. It took another five years of protests, appeals and legal arguments for the community to get the apex court to read down this draconian law. As the judgement was being delivered, Justice Indu Malhotra, one member of the bench, made a statement in her concurring opinion that has been widely quoted and shared since.
“History owes an apology to the members of this community and their families, for the delay in providing redressal for the ignominy and ostracism that they have suffered through the centuries,” she wrote, referring to the queer community. “The members of this community were compelled to live a life full of fear of reprisal and persecution”.
Eight-odd years later, India’s queer community is once again confronted with a historic injustice. The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026 has just been passed by both houses of Parliament. President Draupadi Murmu gave her assent on 30 March, making it law. However, large gatherings of LGBTQ+ community members and their allies oppose it because the Act undermines one of the fundamental rights of trans people: the right to self-determination of their gender identity.
For cis-gendered people, the idea of gender fluidity may be difficult to grasp. Even if it makes sense theoretically, the ground reality of being and living as a transgender person is hard to envision. The problem is accentuated by stereotypical depictions of trans people—mostly trans women who are the more visible members of the community—in popular culture, media and mythologies.
However, in the last few years a series of autobiographies by members of the community—Smile Vidya’s I Am Vidya (2013), Me Hijra, Me Laxmi (2015) by Laxmi, Kalki Subramaniam’s We Are Not The Others (2022) and The Yellow Sparrow (2023) by Santa Khurai, among others—has sought to convey the visceral realities of the trans experience to a general audience,. One of the earliest books in this growing line of life writing was A. Revathi’s The Truth About Me: A Hijra Life Story, published by Penguin Books India in 2010 in historian V. Geetha’s translation.
Over the last few days, I have been revisiting Revathi’s story, which I first read 15 years ago, and reckoning with the lines of devastation that connect the past and present. Born in a village near Namakkal in Salem district of Tamil Nadu, Doraisamy could have opted for a regular life like his elder brothers did: driving lorries to deliver milk for a living and raising a family,. Instead, he turned out to be what his family and neighbours labelled a “girl-boy”.
Ill at ease in his body, Doraisamy felt most alive when he dressed up as a woman and danced at the Mariamman festival in his village. Despite taunts from society, rebuke from his parents, and violent beatings from his brothers, he ran away from home and joined a community of hijras, who became his chosen family. Eventually Doraisamy emerged as Revathi (the name inspired by the famous Tamil actress) and lived an itinerant existence, cared for by her guru and nani (elders of her hijra clan) in Mumbai, Bengaluru, and elsewhere. She was also a victim of abuse and hatred from fellow hijras, who envied her for her looks and demand among her clients when she started doing sex work.
The raw, unfiltered, and often graphic narrative style of The Truth About Me can feel triggering, yet it is also the reason why memoirs like Revathi’s are so valuable—not just as personal testimony but also as social history. Apart from taking the reader into the inner workings of the hijra ecosystem, a complex familial structure with its unique rules and decorum, the book reveals the peculiar moral inconsistencies of the rural community where Revathi grew up. Until she was a “girl-boy”, the whole world made her fodder for ridicule, casual violence, and transphobic slurs. But once she returns home, not as a prodigal son but as a woman who has had “the operation”, the hostility transforms into confusion, even awe.
In a memorable instance, the priest allows Revathi to enter the temple of her family deity, a “virgin goddess”. It’s a place that is out of bounds for women who have not yet stopped menstruating. Since she looks no different from a woman, everyone around her assumes she is one and tries to prevent her from entering the temple, though the priest, who had known her since childhood, is wiser. Once he dispels the confusion, Revathi overhears someone in the crowd say, “You’re not like us, you’re like the goddess, unblemished, unlike us who’ve done wrong”. It is a strange moment of validation as well as denial—an acknowledgement of the difficulty the rest of the world runs into when trying to fathom the “third gender” identity, but also a form of acceptance tinged with respect towards such a person.
Revathi experiences a similar dilemma with her parents, too. While her mother is unequivocal in her disapproval the first time she learns about Revathi’s gender-reassignment surgery, it is her father who offers his support. He urges her to fight for her rightful share of property even as her brothers threaten her with dire consequences if she did so.
Since the publication of her book, Revathi has become an icon for transgender rights. Her autobiography is studied at colleges and universities around the world. It has been adapted for the stage and a version of it has been performed by Revathi herself as an extended monologue. Having joined Sangama, an NGO that works for transgender rights, she has become a leading voice among activists. Her life and career have changed in ways she could have scarcely imagined—as have the times we now live in.
In 2026, trans rights are being publicly discussed and debated, and proudly fought for. Yet, there are still many Doraisamys, ill at ease in the body they were born in, dressing up in women’s clothes, and bullied by society. Role models like Revathi braved the storms and stresses, and lived through hell, so that the younger generation can live with dignity and pride. The newly amended law not only disregards the rights of the queer community but also makes a trifle of all the pain and sacrifice they had to collectively endure to get to this point.
West Asia war pulls markets lower, but 22,000 holds firm
Further gains depend on geopolitical developments, with escalation risks likely to unsettle markets By Ram Sahgal | Mumbai
The Indian market seems to have made a temporary bottom near the 22,000 level, with the zone eliciting strong buying interest from domestic investors and goading options sellers into writing puts at that strike.
Analysts expect a bounce near the 23,000-23,200 band following Thursday’s sharp intraday recovery. They caution, however, that any escalation over the weekend could upset their forecasts. “Thursday’s recovery and close above the previous session low sets a bounce in motion towards the first resistance level of 23,000-23,200, so long as the war doesn't escalate in the intervening period,” said Sahaj Agrawal, senior vice-president research at Kotak Securities. Friday was a market holiday for Good Friday.
Market Impact Since February
Since the war began in February, the market has fallen almost 12% from 25,178 to Thursday’s low of 22,182.55. Over the same period, crude rose 50% to $109.24 a barrel due to supply constraints from the Strait of Hormuz. This surge followed Iran's statement that ships from non-hostile countries may pass via Hormuz only after paying a toll of $2 million per vessel.
Despite the fall, the market has found repeated support at 22,000.
- 23 March: Nifty bounced from 22,471.25 to close at 22,912.4 the following day.
- 30 March: After falling to 22,283.85, it rebounded to 22,941.3 on 1 April.
- Latest Test (Thursday): Nifty slipped to an intraday low of 22,182.55 but closed at 22,713.1, up 0.15% from the previous session and a sharp 2.4% from the day’s low.
Outlook and Resistance Levels
Rajesh Palviya, senior vice president (research) at Axis Securities, noted that the recovery on Thursday indicates a possible bounce to the 23,000-23,200 range in the short term, provided there is no steep escalation. Asked if investors had seen the worst of the war, Palviya said he could not "vouchsafe" for it unless the market decisively breaks the 23,400-23,500 levels. “We can safely say this (22,000) is a temporary bottom for now,” he added.
Kruti Shah, quant analyst at Equirus Securities, highlighted that the level of 23,512 represents a 61.8% retracement from the 52-week low of 21,743.65 (7 April 2025) to the record high of 26,373.2 (5 January). A convincing breach of this 23,512 level may extend the bounce in the market.
Followers don’t count
It’s easier than ever to go viral, but harder than ever to be remembered—turning creators into content machines By Shephali Bhatt
Over the last couple of weeks, a seemingly comforting narrative has taken over the creator economy discourse: your follower count doesn’t matter anymore. The algorithm has democratised reach, meaning a good piece of content can come from anywhere and go places. While largely true, this shift also highlights the current stage of the creator economy's evolution—it is now more crowded, more competitive, and more monetised than ever before. This environment dictates who chooses to amplify whom, which remains an essential ingredient for growth.
Content creator Raunak Ramteke from Nagpur observes a specific behaviour within these circles: “Big creators are often more comfortable sharing (content of) someone much smaller in the same niche”. This can feel generous without materially threatening the larger creator's own position or access to brand budgets, while also earning them goodwill. In contrast, engagement with peers often stops at a "like" or a comment—public alignment without meaningful amplification—because in a maturing economy, peers are also competitors.
Bhavya Raj, a 23-year-old comedy content creator from Mumbai, offers a counter-view, noting that if a smaller creator's content appears on a bigger creator's feed, it usually means it is already gaining organic traction and being pushed by the algorithm. However, the real challenge in a world where anything can go viral is no longer just being seen; it’s being remembered. Creators now feel constant pressure to be "content machines" to stay relevant.
This shift has been building since at least August 2022, when signals showed that content was starting to travel much further than the creator behind it. A viral post may travel far, but it does not always bring that same force of engagement back to the creator. For marketers, this has eroded the old certainty that a large following offered a minimum guarantee of eyeballs.
Consequently, influencer marketing may soon begin to resemble performance marketing, where brands align themselves more with specific content than with the creators themselves. In this new landscape, content is no longer just expression; it is inventory. With a finite shelf life for any given post, experienced creators have a tacit understanding: they must cash in while they are successful, because the cycle moves incredibly fast.
Russia offers India top up of crude, fertilizers and LNG
‘STRAITENED’. Hormuz disruption pushes Delhi to up reliance on Moscow energy supplies
Rishi Ranjan Kala New Delhi
Russia has offered to step up energy trade with India by supplying more crude oil and fertilizers at a time when the world’s third-largest energy consumer is exploring alternatives to meet the oil and gas deficit created by the West Asia conflict. Moscow also offered liquefied natural gas (LNG) even as India is scouting for cargoes from the US and Australia, as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has impacted 47 per cent of its LNG imports.
SUPPLY BOOST
First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Denis Manturov said on Friday that Russian companies had the capacity to steadily increase supplies of oil and LNG to India. Manturov noted that by the end of 2025, Russia had increased supplies of in-demand mineral fertilizers to India by 40 per cent and is ready to continue meeting India’s demand for this product.
In addition, a joint project for carbamide production is under development. “Particular attention was paid to cooperation in the oil and gas sector. Denis Manturov confirmed that Russian companies have the capacity to steadily increase supplies of oil and liquefied natural gas to the Indian market,” said a Russian Embassy statement.
MEETS PM, MINISTERS
Manturov, who is on a two-day official visit to India, met top Ministers and officials, including Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Manturov called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday and held discussions. The discussions also covered areas such as industrial cooperation, space and education, the Embassy statement said.
“Expanding mutually beneficial trade, investment and industrial cooperation ties was one of the key topics on the agenda. Specific steps were discussed to create favourable conditions for increasing bilateral trade turnover in the present context,” it noted.
OMCS BUY RUSSIA OIL
Meanwhile, Indian refiners have shifted back to Russian crude oil, buying around 60 million barrels from Moscow since March 5 as closure of the Strait of Hormuz impacted 40 per cent of its imports, according to the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies (OIES).
In a first, India is buying Russian crude (at sea) at a premium, which sources said had hit a high of $8-9 per barrel. Besides, Russia is also supplying LPG to India.
OIES, in its recent energy comment, pointed out that the scale of the Hormuz disruption was like “no other seen in oil market history”. In such a scenario, one of the US tools to help put a lid on crude prices has been granting exemptions on sanctioned barrels. Russia has been a clear beneficiary of this measure.
Is awarding Trump a Nobel the best bet for peace?
The Prize is often given for nudging conflicting parties towards peace, rather than on the basis of concrete achievements
Atanu Biswas
This January, Donald Trump told Norway’s prime minister he no longer needed to think “purely of peace” after failing to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Is the same attitude being reflected in attacking Iran? After capturing Venezuelan President Maduro, the world undoubtedly understands that Trump is capable of doing anything. And besides Greenland, places like Canada, the Panama Canal, Cuba, and Mexico still exist on the world map. So, could awarding a Nobel Peace Prize serve as a strategic move to limit Trump’s actions?
Trump’s eagerness to get the Nobel Prize — perhaps to match his legacy with Obama’s — is never a secret. Yes, Obama’s nomination — after only a few days of becoming president — was highly criticised, as his achievement for “peace” was unclear. Obama himself put some distance between himself and the award, saying he viewed it “a recognition of the role of American leadership” in the world and vowed to accept it “as a call to action”.
The Nobel Peace Prize is often awarded not solely for the final, absolute achievement of peace but rather has frequently been utilised as a strategic lever — to offer encouragement, frequently acting as a “nudge” to persevere in challenging circumstances; to exert pressure; and even to take a gamble on the future.
Take some examples. Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat were awarded the Nobel Prize in 1978 following the Camp David Accords, yet prior to a comprehensive resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The Nobel panel explicitly framed this as an endeavour to reinforce a fragile peace process. When Lech Wałesa was awarded the Nobel in 1983, Poland remained under military rule, and the Solidarity movement had been suppressed. Thus, the award served as a signal of international support for a desired democratic future. Aung San Suu Kyi was awarded in 1991 while she was under house arrest and no democratic transition had yet been achieved in Myanmar. Consequently, it served as a symbolic and forward-looking award.
When Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk were awarded the Nobel in 1993, apartheid had indeed been officially dismantled; however, South Africa’s transition remained highly precarious. Thus, the clear objective was to encourage the continuation of negotiations and to deter the disruptors. Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres, and Yasser Arafat were awarded it in 1994 — during the Oslo peace process, rather than after a final settlement. The award was, therefore, viewed as an effort to bring various parties together at the negotiating table and to bolster the moderate leaders on all sides.
Juan Manuel Santos was awarded in 2016, shortly after the Colombian public had narrowly rejected – via a referendum – a peace accord with the guerrilla organisation FARC. The Nobel panel stated that it was bestowed to encourage continuation of the peace process.
PROSPECTS FOR PEACE
Thus, it’s evident that the Nobel Committee often seems to believe that by empowering an individual through an award “now” — rather than waiting — the prospects for future peace are significantly enhanced. Consequently, ceasefires are frequently recognised — even before the war has ended. Similarly, moderate forces are often honoured before extremists have the chance to regain their strength.
Some of these endeavours do indeed meet with success — such as the award conferred upon Mandela and de Klerk. It’s frequently cited as a prime example of a visionary award fulfilling its intended purpose. The award given to Begin and Sadat also proved quite successful; the 1979 Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty remains one of the most enduring agreements in that region. The award to Santos also proved remarkably effective. Santos pressed ahead, and a revised treaty was subsequently ratified.
The outcomes of some forward looking prizes have been mixed or ambiguous, though. Certain peace initiatives — such as awarding Arafat or Suu Kyi — have ended in failure. Yet, overall, awarding Trump a Nobel Prize might not be a bad “bet” for peace. Although there’s no guarantee that such an endeavour would actually succeed.
The writer is Professor of Statistics, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata.
Time to push for rupee internationalisation
Higher use of rupee in cross-border payments will create demand and prevent a one-way downward spiral
Lokeshwarri SK
The ongoing crisis in the rupee, with the Indian currency edging near the 95-mark against the dollar, underlines the need for creating more demand for rupee outside India. The good news is that the usage of rupee for settling foreign trade has begun in a small way, in the last four years.
The removal of Russia from the international trade messaging platform, SWIFT, following the invasion on Ukraine in 2022 has brought about a sea change in the way policy makers approach their foreign currency reserves and international payments. Serious efforts are now underway to devise alternative platforms and channels for cross-border payments, diversify reserves away from dollar and to settle bilateral trade in local currencies. The US-Israel-Iran conflict is likely to give further impetus to this move as countries will now have to also sew up deals to ensure energy security, besides continuing to reduce their reliance on the dollar.
Rupee internationalisation, which was a pie in the sky until a few years ago, seems a possibility now, given the increasing discontent against the dollar and the policies of the US administration in recent years. This is closely aligned with increasing de-dollarisation or reduction in dollar dominance in global reserves and payments.
POLICY MOVES
Policy makers across the globe received a jolt when Russia was ostracised from global payment ecosystem in 2022. The RBI too began initiating steps to increase international use of rupee around this time. It allowed invoicing and settlement of foreign trade in rupee in July 2022. With India defying the sanction against Russian exports, India’s trade with Russia, including the purchase of Russian crude and defence supplies have been settled in rupee since 2022.
India has also entered into bilateral agreements with countries such as the UAE, Indonesia and Maldives for settlement of bilateral trade in local currencies. In December 2023, regulations were relaxed further to allow cross-border settlement with all trading partners in local currencies and rupee.
These moves have begun showing results. RBI data show that as of January 2026, 6.18 per cent of total exports of goods and services of India between April and January FY26 was invoiced in rupee, which was valued at ₹2.64 lakh crore. This share had been fluctuating around 5.80 to 5.9 per cent since FY24. Share of rupee invoicing in total imports is 4.69 per cent.
Share of rupee in settlement of Indian goods and services trade is however lower. The share of rupee in settlement of exports was only 2.76 per cent this fiscal year, while share in imports was 2.32 per cent. The gap implies presence of intent, which needs to be closed soon.
It is comforting to note that all countries are in the same boat, as far as need to reduce dependency on dollar goes. As on February 2025, permission had been given by the RBI to open 156 special rupee Vostro accounts by 123 foreign banks from 30 trading partner countries. Around 26 Indian banks are involved in this.
With resentment over the US’ high-handedness growing following the West Asia conflict, the time is now right to push for greater usage of rupee in bilateral trades.
DOLLAR DOMINANCE WANES
Dollar’s dominance, on the other hand, has been steadily waning in recent years. Unbridled currency printing by the Federal Reserve to fight the global financial crisis and then the Covid pandemic has debased the dollar, making countries look for alternatives in reliable reserve currency.
According to IMF’s COFER (currency composition of official foreign exchange reserves) data, percentage of global foreign exchange reserves held in US dollars has declined from 64 per cent in 2017 to 56.7 per cent by the fourth quarter of 2025.
But the interesting part is that share of other currencies in global reserves has moved from 2.5 per cent to 6.13 per cent in this period, indicating a move towards non-traditional reserve currencies. Gold, the other safe-haven, is also emerging as a competitor to the dollar. Share of gold in global reserves more than double from 10 per cent in 2015 to 23 per cent now.
Share of US treasury securities held by foreign countries is also moving lower. According to the US Federal Reserve, around $9 trillion or 32 per cent of US treasury securities is currently held by foreign investors. This is down from almost 50 per cent holding of overseas investors in 2014.
The role of dollar as a reference currency for settling foreign trade between third party currency increases its share in global trade invoicing. The US Federal Reserve notes that according to data collected from the SWIFT platform, the dollar’s share of international payments (both trade and remittances) is about 50 percent currently.
ALTERNATE MECHANISMS
But increasing settlement of bilateral trade in local currencies can help speed the move away from dollar. This can be aided by creating alternative settlement and messaging platform for international trade. With the SWIFT platform, governed by the Bank of Belgium, the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank, handling most of global payments from the US and Europe, any country evicted from the platform would come up against a wall in processing international transactions.
The BRICS Pay, which is being designed as a cross-border financial messaging system for the BRICS countries with their national currencies, is an alternative. But dominance of China in this system could be an issue. The larger BRICS countries including China and Russia are meanwhile developing their own messaging platforms, the CIPS (cross-border interbank messaging system) and SPFS (system for transfer of financial messages) respectively. Interoperability between these platforms could be one way to develop a larger alternative to SWIFT.
Central Bank Digital Currencies being developed by almost all countries can also provide a viable channel for cross-border trade settlement. According to Atlantic Council, there are currently 13 cross-border wholesale CBDC projects including Project mBridge which connects banks in China, Thailand, the UAE, Hong Kong, and Saudi Arabia.
While these are small steps, it is best to keep up the effort to internationalise the rupee, especially now when the global sentiment is tilted against the dollar.
Trump seeks $1.5 trillion of US budget for military ops
Press Trust of India Washington
US President Donald Trump has proposed boosting defence spending to $1.5 trillion in his 2027 budget released on Friday, the largest such request in decades, reflecting his emphasis on US military investments over domestic programmes.
The sizeable increase for the Pentagon had been telegraphed by the Republican President even before the US-led war against Iran. Trump’s plan would also reduce spending on non-defence programmes by 10 per cent by shifting some responsibilities to State and local governments. “President Trump is committed to rebuilding our military to secure peace through strength,” the budget said.
Trump, speaking ahead of an address to the nation this week about the Iran war, signalled the military is his priority, setting up a clash ahead in Congress. “We’re fighting wars. We can’t take care of day care,” Trump said at a private White House event on Wednesday.
BUDGET PRIORITIES
Among the budget priorities the White House called for supporting the administration’s immigration enforcement and deportation operations by eliminating refugee resettlement aid, maintaining Immigration and Customs Enforcement funds at current year levels and drawing on last year’s increases for funds to open detention facilities.
US federal balance sheets are operating in the red, running nearly $2 trillion annual deficits and debt swelling past $39 trillion.
Textile industry urged to ‘rethink’ playbook as Asia hub faces headwinds
KV Kurmanath Hyderabad
The Asian textile ecosystem, which accounts for about 63 per cent of global textile and apparel exports, 89 per cent of the total spindles in the world, 92 per cent of texturising capacity and 82 per cent of weaving capacity, is facing several challenges. This includes an unpredictable trade environment, sluggish economic growth, cost inflation and poor margins, changing buyer behaviour and consumption.
Speaking at the 12th Asian Textiles Conference (ATEXCON 2026) here on Friday, he said that the traditional playbook was no longer sufficient to mitigate the challenges. “We must collectively re-think how we produce, source, innovate and collaborate to remain globally competitive and resilient,” he added.
GROWTH HUB
Talking on ‘Reimagining the future of global textiles’, Chandrima Chatterjee, Secretary General, CITI, said that per capita consumption...
A Revanth Reddy appealed to investors, saying, “If you have a vision, we are your perfect partners for global success. Together, we can create an end-to-end textile ecosystem, which can be a game-changer for the world”.
